VIENNA, March 5: Opec snubbed US President George W. Bush on Wednesday by deciding to leave its production level unchanged, sending crude prices spiralling more than $3 higher.

Opec, which produces 40 per cent of the world’s oil, said it was pumping enough crude and insisted it was not responsible for record high oil prices of more $100 per barrel.

“The Conference observed that the market is well-supplied, with current commercial oil stocks standing above their five-year average,” Opec said in a final communiqué.

“The Conference further noted, with concern, that the current price environment does not reflect market fundamentals (of supply and demand), as crude oil prices are being strongly influenced by the weakness in the US dollar, rising inflation and significant flow of funds into the commodities market,” it added.

President Bush, whose country is the world’s biggest energy consumer, had said on Tuesday that it would be a “mistake” for the Opec not to hike production.

Opec is producing 32 million barrels a day, including output from Iraq which does not form part of the cartel’s official output quota, according to Opec president, Algerian Oil Minister Chakib Khelil.

The cartel on Wednesday kept its daily output target at 29.67 million barrels.

Energy-hungry India also expressed concern over the rising price of crude oil on Wednesday, saying current rates were “very disturbing.”

“The $100 a barrel price is here to stay,” R.S. Sharma, chairman and managing director of state-run Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), India’s biggest producer, told a conference in New Delhi.

“If we look at statements from Opec countries, when they say that $90 a barrel should be considered the floor price, it is a matter of great concern and anxiety.

“It is very disturbing for oil consuming countries,” he added.

Opec said it would not follow up on Wednesday’s meet with an extraordinary ministerial gathering.

Opec Secretary General Abdullah al-Badri had earlier told reporters the organisation would hold an extraordinary session before its next scheduled gathering in September, amid global economic turbulence sparked by the collapse of the US subprime home loan market.

Looking to maximise earnings from rocketing oil prices, hardline Opec members Algeria, Iran and Venezuela had called for a cut in production at Wednesday’s ministerial meeting.

Demand for heating fuel was set to fall during the second quarter as warmer temperatures come to Europe and the United States after the winter.

Opec fears that a hike in output would send oil prices tumbling, thus reducing the income of its 13 members, which include the world’s biggest crude producer Saudi Arabia.

The price of oil has doubled since the start of 2007, driven in large part by soaring demand from emerging economic powers China and India.—AFP