Oct. 30

　　Commodity speculators are exploiting geopolitical tensions to put a "fear factor premium" on oil prices, says Qatar's Energy and Oil Minister Abdulla Bin Hamad al-Attiya in an interview with TIME. The blame for high prices — a record $93.53 abarrel on Monday — should not fall on petroleum producers, he says. "How do you blame us" asked Attiya, who also serves as deputy prime minister of Qatar, a small country of nearly one million people whose per capita income of $66,000 is the world's fifth-highest. "I am an oil producer and cannot tell you the oil price. I have to check with Reuters or Platts to tell you my oil price. I cannot fix my oil price. The international market will tell me."

　　Attiya says that rising prices are the end result of crises in places like Iraq, Iran, Venezuelaand Nigeria, which "create more fears, and speculators are very smart. They jump into the market and take this factor and create it as fear. They try to frighten the world. 'Oh, maybe the oil will be disappear. Oh, maybe there will be a war.' But with all the fears of the world, still the supply is very efficient."

　　Attiya told TIME that prices would rise further if the Bush Administration ever carries out a military strike on Iran, his Persian Gulfneighbor. "I hope and am confident that we will not see any war between America and Iran, and that all these negotiations will settle things amicably," Attiya said. But in the event of further conflict in the region, such as a threatened U.S.attack on Iran's nuclear installations, Attiya said, "I think there will be a big jump [in oil prices]." War would cause an actual drop in global oil supplies which, he explained, "will create a panic, a shortage in the market."

　　But that is only in the event of a real war and a cut-off of Iran's and the region's spigots. Right now, says Attiya, there is no actual shortage of fuel. "Why is the price of oil very high I can confirm to you that there is no relation [to] demand and supply. We don't believe there is any shortage of supply in the whole world. I never saw a long queue in any gas station in the world. If you take the inventories, they are the highest in five years.