Iraq says OPEC is flooding the market to please the US

The OPEC should cut production further to raise the oil price to more than $ 33 a barrel, Iraq's parliamentary speaker said. In an article published in the Al-Thawra newspaper, Sadoun Hammadi, who is also an economist, accused OPEC member states of flooding the market with oil to please the United States.
"The most important issue that should be discussed at the OPEC summit in Venezuela is production ceilings and prices," Hammadi wrote in the paper, which is controlled by the ruling Baath Party. OPEC is due to meet in Venezuela in March. "The oil price should be $ 33.71 per barrel, which is a just and reasonable price," he said.
In London, North Sea Brent crude oil futures settled at $ 23.67 a barrel on the International Petroleum Exchange. The price fell to below $ 10 a barrel in February as the world experienced a glut of oil. OPEC and non-OPEC members subsequently agreed on a series of production cutbacks which raised the price.
Iraqi President Saddam Hussein was reported as telling his Cabinet that the price was still too low and accused the United States of manipulating the market. "Would certain OPEC members abandon the policy of flooding the market with oil to suit the interest of big industrial countries (such as) the United States?," Hammadi asked in a clear reference to Saudi Arabia. Iraq has long accused Saudi Arabia of exporting more than it should.