Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said on Saturday that oil prices could more than double to $200 per barrel if the United States attacked Iran
over a standoff about Tehran's nuclear program.
"If the United States is crazy enough to attack Iran or commit aggression against Venezuela ... Oil would not be $100 but $200," Chavez told an OPEC summit in the Saudi capital Riyadh. His remarks were translated into Arabic.
Ahmadinejad (L), Chavez and King Abdullah (Photo: AFP)
Chavez also said $100 per barrel was a "fair" price for oil.
Oil has lapped against the $100-mark this month, prompting consumer nations to call on the exporter group to help ease price pressure by providing the market with more crude.
On Friday, Saudi Arabia objected to an attempt by Iran and Venezuela to highlight concern over the dollar's weakness in the summit communique and the group voted the proposal out.
Venezuela is a price hawk and holds some of the largest reserves outside the Middle East and is the no. 4 US supplier.
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