WASHINGTON, March 6: The White House said on Thursday that there’s “not a lot” that US President George W. Bush can do in the short-term in the face of Opec’s decision to ignore his pleas to boost oil output.

“If Opec has decided that they are not going to increase output, there’s not a lot that the president can do. We don’t control their decisions,” said spokeswoman Dana Perino.

She spoke after oil prices surged past 105 dollars per barrel for the first time, as traders reacted to sliding US energy reserves, the weak dollar and the decision by the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries.

“It would be wrong for us to say that we could do something in the short term, because the reality is, there is no short-term solution to this problem,” Perino told reporters.

“What we can do here is continue to try to do several different things,” she said, citing efforts to improve fuel efficiency, promote alternative and renewable fuels, and drill for oil domestically.

“But it would be wrong for any politician to suggest that there’s something in the short term that they can do to alleviate the problem of very high global demand and tight supply,” she said.

Meanwhile, analysts said Opec’s move to keep oil output unchanged was a message to the market that crude supplies are sufficient, a view not shared by speculators who pushed the price of crude to fresh record highs on Thursday.

Speculators have latched onto this, as well as diplomatic friction or unrest affecting oil producing countries such as Iran and Nigeria.—AFP