CAIRO — OPEC is worried about the recent surge in global oil prices and its potential impact on the world economy, but the market is oversupplied, several oil officials said Monday, suggesting the bloc will not raise its output at its June meeting.
Oil prices have spiked sharply over the past few months, surging on concerns that the unrest ravaging the Arab world, including Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries member Libya, will affect output from a group that supplies about 35 percent of the world’s crude.
The gains have stoked fears that they could squeeze the global economy.
OPEC acknowledged those concerns but said the increases that briefly pushed oil futures as high as $127 per barrel were driven mainly by speculation.
The U.S. benchmark crude futures contract was hovering around $109 per barrel on Monday, while its London-based Brent counterpart was near $123 per barrel on the ICE Futures Exchange.
