OPEC: Oil Prices Too High

In an adept understanding of economics and the diminishing returns of higher prices, OPEC is speaking out about $70-a-barrell oil.

OPEC believes oil prices are too steep, after setting a fresh record high above $70 a barrel, and the rise is not justified by market fundamentals, a senior OPEC delegate said on Tuesday.

The delegate said there was no shortage of crude oil supply and that OPEC giant Saudi Arabia and other producers had pledged in the past to keep markets well supplied.

"OPEC believes strongly that prices are too high and nobody wants to see these prices," the delegate told Reuters. "(But) it has nothing to do with fundamentals."

U.S. crude set a fresh record high on Tuesday on concern that Iran's nuclear row with the West could affect oil exports from the world's fourth-largest producer and as a major Nigerian supply outage dragged into a third month.