OPEC chief Abdala El Badri on Thursday said members were unhappy with surging prices he blamed on speculators and a weak US dollar.<br/><br/>"We are not very happy with this increase in oil prices," said El-Badri during a visit to Ecuador.<br/><br/>"Volatility has nothing to do with the fundamentals. It has nothing to do with world demand," he said, stressing that a dropping dollar was driving prices higher.<br/><br/>"The price was at 130 dollars and today is at 135, so it's really a crazy market," he said.<br/><br/>El-Badri, OPEC's secretary general, is on a week-long working visit to the two OPEC member states in Latin America, Venezuela and Ecuador.<br/><br/>Tuesday he met with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez in Caracas and with Minister of Energy and Petroleum/President of PDVSA, Rafael Ramirez.<br/><br/>In a statement released by the cartel on Wednesday, El-Badri said that OPEC remained committed "to working for the stability of the international oil market, noting that the current high oil prices are not influenced by market fundamentals, as the market is well-supplied.<br/><br/>"OPEC will continue to monitor global oil markets regularly and is ready to act if and when necessary to ensure market stability and adequate supplies," the statement added.<br/><br/>Crude oil prices rocketed to record highs above 135 dollars on Thursday, driven by growing concerns that energy supplies will fail to meet demand, analysts said.<br/><br/>Prices later pulled back to just below 133 dollars owing to profit-taking.<br/><br/>
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