Opec has blamed a lack of investment in the oil sector in the United States for spiralling global prices and has refused to bow to pressure to lift production from its 12 member states.

Abdalla Salem El-Badri, Opec’s Secretary-General, said yesterday: “Frankly, we don’t see that we should add more oil. The US has bottlenecks in their refineries. They are very old and they have not invested for 30 years.”

He said that “geopolitical problems” were to blame rather than a lack of production from Opec, the oil cartel responsible for about 40 per cent of global production of 85 million barrels per day.

Mr El-Badri insisted that there was enough oil to keep pace with demand, saying that there were 53.5 days of forward coverage in the market. The situation was “an average level” of supply, he said. “There is no shortage of oil in the market,” he said at the opening of the third Opec summit meeting in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Mr El-Badri added that increased production was not under consideration, although the issue could be addressed at the group’s next conference, in Abu Dhabi. “Opec is not in favour of high or low oil prices,” he said. “We would like to see stability in the market.”

He said that recent prices of close to $100 per barrel did not represent a “bonanza for member countries” because of increased investment in oil production. Opec members would spend $150 billion to lift capacity by five million barrels per day by 2015.

Mr El-Badri also said that Opec, which has been joined by Angola recently, would welcome new members, such as Brazil, where last week huge new reserves of oil were discovered off Rio de Janeiro. “If a country has the same interests as us, then it is welcome,” he said, although he added that Brazil had not yet made an official approach to the cartel.

The Opec summit – only the third in its 47-year history – aims to help redefine the purpose of the cartel. Officials said that the organisation wants to broaden its role to include assisting member states in development and even helping counter climate change.

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