“A price of $60 to $65 is appropriate for consumers and producers, because it boosts means of investment in the oil industry in light of growing demand for oil in the coming years,” state firm Kuwait Petroleum Corporation’s (KOC) monthly newsletter quoted Hasan Qabazard as saying.

“OPEC seeks to supply markets sufficiently at proper prices,” Qabazard told the magazine’s July edition. Qabazard is the top research official at the Vienna headquarters of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries.

The report did not specify to which oil price he referred. Benchmark London Brent settled at $77.64 a barrel on Friday, just over a dollar below the record of $78.65 hit last August. The price of OPEC’s reference crude oil basket stood at $73.23 on Thursday.

Qabazard blamed political problems such as a row between Iran and the West over Teheran’s nuclear programme and abductions in Nigeria’s oil industry for rising oil prices.

Qabazard also said a shortage of gasoline in the United States, as a result of refinery capacity constraints, contributed to high oil prices.