Risk premiums blamed for price rise
Mumbai, September 12, 2007
Elevated oil prices are partly due to risk premiums, not fundamental factors, the deputy governor of the Saudi central bank said on Wednesday.
"I think higher oil prices have a lot to do with risk premium from geopolitical uncertainties and from low oil refinery capacities in the major industrial countries," Mohamed al-Jasser said at a banking conference.
Oil was trading above $78 a barrel, close to its record high, after Opec's token output increase on Tuesday failed to allay worries about falling inventories during the coming winter. - Reuters