"The decline of oil prices was not economic in nature, but rather political and speculative," Energy Committee chair Ivan Grachev said at a roundtable on the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries' (OPEC) decision to maintain current oil output levels.
On Thursday OPEC Conference president and Libyan Vice Prime Minister Abdourhman Ataher Al-Ahirish also highlighted the role speculative activity is playing in the oil markets during opening remarks of the group's 166th meeting.
At Thursday's meeting in Vienna, the 12-member cartel decided to keep the current daily oil production ceiling of 30 million barrels, immediately causing the price of Brent crude to fall below the benchmark level of $75 per barrel.
The decision was made amid a slump in oil prices on the global market. Over the past five months oil prices have fallen by about $40 per barrel.
