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Report: Iran's president says oil prices too low

By ALI AKBAR DAREINI,

Posted: 2008-04-19 04:52:28

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - Iran's hard-line president declared that crude oil prices, now above $115 a barrel, are too low, state media reported Saturday.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told an oil and gas exhibition in Tehran on Friday that he thought the commodity still had to "discover its real value," according to the Web site of Iran's state-run television.

Oil prices have hit all-time highs above $115 a barrel in recent weeks, amid reports that oil and gasoline reserves in the United States were lower than expected and as the dollar sinks to record lows.

"The oil price of $115 a barrel in today's global markets is a deceiving figure. Oil is a strategic commodity that needs to discover its real value," the Web site quoted Ahmadinejad as saying.

Crude oil futures surged to a new trading record of $117 a barrel Friday following an attack on a key pipeline in Nigeria. The increase capped a week of record highs fueled by supply woes and the dollar's weakness relative to other major currencies.

Ahmadinejad said despite high oil prices, the true value of crude oil, adjusted for inflation, is currently less than what it was in 1980.

"While the price of other commodities have increased, the economic value of the current oil price is even less than 1980," he said.

But some figures suggest that today's crude prices might have surpassed inflation-adjusted highs set in early 1980. Depending on how the adjustment is calculated, $38 a barrel then would be worth $96 to $103 or more today.

Ahmadinejad accused Western industrialized nations of "selfishness" in their quest for cheaper oil.

"When they get hold of oil, they assume that oil is a free commodity and belongs to them and has wrongly been placed in other territories. ... This is the spirit of selfishness and arrogance," Ahmadinejad was quoted as saying.

A host of supply and demand concerns in the U.S. and abroad, along with the dollar's weakness, have bolstered oil prices, even as record retail gasoline prices in the U.S. appear to be dampening demand.

A weaker dollar makes commodities such as oil less attractive to investors as a hedge against inflation, and it makes oil more expensive to investors overseas. Analysts believe the weaker dollar is the primary reason oil has soared this year. The effect tends to reverse when the greenback gains ground.

Ahmadinejad called the U.S. currency "a handful of paper" without any global support.

Iran has stopped using the U.S. dollar in its oil transactions with the outside world, switching to currencies such as euro.

"The dollar is not money any longer but a handful of paper distributed in the world without commodity support," the Web site quoted Ahmadinejad as saying.

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. Active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.

04/19/08 04:51 EDT

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FUND43 05:54:33 PM Apr 25 2008

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What was it that people didnt like about the Clinton administration, the peace or the prosperity?

FUND43 05:50:43 PM Apr 25 2008

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Nuke the bastards!

TreeDeco 05:08:36 PM Apr 25 2008

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Nuke the Middle east........Shoot the Illegal Aliens..........Close our borders.......and let the rest of the world kiss our asses!!

RDSTFANO 04:22:36 PM Apr 25 2008

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They would like to break the U. S back and the people, We need to break free of oil . Break their backs, when they lose there leverage they can sell sand for beaches I guess.

Bobbybangbangg 03:45:51 PM Apr 25 2008

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OIl and gas prices are up because the american dollar has depriciated dramatically amongst so many other things. It all revolves around mexicans coming to america and sending the US dollar back to mexico where they will finally retire as kings. I have been in business for myself for 10 yrs. and now I cant beat the cheap laborers who came here over running our construction field. Luckily they cant speak english so... I have become a restaurant server making $200 a night waiting tables and yelling at the mexican dishwashers for not getting the dishes cleaned on time so the tables can be set so I can ultimately make money. Obviously 3 yrs. ago was a time for construction workers to step up and own their own businesses instead of making 1500 to $2500 a week and blowing it up their noses. Ive seen alot in the past ten years and I hope things go back to the way they were when clinton was president gas was .99 cents a gallon. That would change everyones life who has a work vehicle to m

UserWood7987 10:30:01 AM Apr 25 2008

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The goverment should place 2 million barrels of strategic oil on the market at just the right time to burn the asses of the oil speculators. Do this a couple times and they wont risk the money in oil futures

Tjr6120 11:23:12 PM Apr 24 2008

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Ride Motorcycles........Fen, inexpensive, and if enough of us do it, it willl make a difference.

Gpkeskilson 07:31:17 PM Apr 24 2008

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WHO CARES ABOUT IRAN,IT SHOULD BE TURNED INTO GLASS....THE IRANIAN BOY ASKED HIS DAD WHAT DID YOU DO IN THE WAR DAD SAID IRAN.

RR4DOORS8 04:44:58 PM Apr 23 2008

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Iran gas sells for $.80 yes,80 cents a gallon
Iraq gas sells for 40 cents a gallon
Ven. gas sells for 70 cents a gallon
If we the people of the US made a no/profit LLC it would be less then a dollar..
Get rid of Wall St. and their prices now!

MBossey 11:19:12 AM Apr 22 2008

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We had a warning shot accross our bow in the 1970's and we did nothing. Now these third world monkies are strong arming us because WE HAVE NO CHOICE! Brazil did something and now they are 98% free of the clutches of the Middle East. Ethyl is not the answer. It takes 7 gallons of water to make a bushel of corn, and 7 bushels of corn to make 1 gallon of Ethyl. We are destroying our fresh water and food supply to create a toxic liquid to run our industry and transportation. In 1999 the EV1 electric car was a sensation. Today the technology would be even better with high capacity lighter batteries. Fewer recharges, and longer distences. The car companies don't want this because we would no longer need oil filters, spark plugs, oil, and so on. The electric car produced no emissions, and has very few moving parts. True emissions are needed for the charging systems, but think about solar power to charge your electric car. Then Iran can drink their oil!

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