The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries needs to “work hard” with consumer countries to help avoid the risk of excessive oil price volatility, the cartel's head said Monday. On the eve of the world's largest energy forum in the Mexican resort of Cancun, OPEC Secretary-General Abdalla Salem El-Badri said producers had a role to play in keeping oil prices free of huge swings following a roller-coaster ride in the second half of 2008. The International Energy Forum (IEF) will be attended by OPEC, whose member nations, including Saudi Arabia, together pump about 40 percent of the world's crude. Also present will be the International Energy Agency, which represents consumers as the energy-monitoring arm of the OECD. “We need to work hard with (the) IEA under the umbrella of IEF... to reduce the (excessive) volatility,” El-Badri told reporters on Monday, without expanding. The IEF is set to publish a ministerial declaration in Cancun that will mention the issue of excessive oil price volatility, El-Badri confirmed. US crude for May delivery rose $2.17, or 2.71 percent, to settle at $82.17 a barrel. London Brent crude gained $1.88 to settle at $81.17. In second half of 2008, oil prices spiking to record highs.
