Gulf States Consider Revaluing Currencies, Person Familiar Says

Contributed by Steven Rix

".....Venezuela backed an Iranian proposal to add the group's concern over the falling dollar to a summit declaration to be made today. Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal said that no mention of the dollar should be made in the declaration because he didn't want the U.S. currency to ``collapse.''.....

Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah said OPEC shouldn't make oil a source of conflict, contradicting Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez who wants the oil exporter group to become an active ``political agent.''

``Oil is an energy for building and prosperity, it shouldn't become a means of conflict,'' King Abdullah said at the start of the group's summit in Riyadh yesterday. ``Those who want OPEC to become an organization of monopoly and exploitation ignore the truth.''.....

``OPEC was born as a geopolitical force and not only as a technical or economic one in the '60s,'' Chavez said, speaking before King Abdullah. ``We should continue to strengthen OPEC, but beyond that, OPEC should set itself up as an active political agent.''

The contrasting view on OPEC's role in the world comes a day after a disagreement between Venezuela's Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez and Al-Faisal on whether to move away from the dollar was accidentally aired on live television.

Chavez said in his speech yesterday that he's confident OPEC will do what it can to keep oil prices at a ``fair'' level, adding that if Iran was invaded, prices could easily rise to $200 a barrel........"

Lucia added this:

"``OPEC was born as a geopolitical force and not only as a technical or economic one in the '60s,'' Chavez said, speaking before King Abdullah. ``We should continue to strengthen OPEC, but beyond that, OPEC should set itself up as an active political agent.''
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And Chavez added, the following, that is missed by Bloomberg:

(OPEP) "nació como un actor geopolítico, no sólo como un actor económico tecnocrático" y que ahora debe ponerse "al frente de la lucha contra la pobreza", entre otros mediante la creación de un banco propio.

(My translation) - (OPEC) was born as a geo-political player, not only as an economic and technocratic actor and must now 'be at the forefront of the fight against poverty', among others through the creation of a Bank of its own."