OPEC's Secretary General Abdalla Salem el-Badri states that an interest rate increase by the US Federal Reserve would strengthen the US Dollar,rein in speculation, and possibly push oil prices under one hundred dollars per barrel.

"People will go and invest somewhere else," if the Fed opted to raise rates, el-Badri said. "I'm sure the price will come down," he added, sanguine about the pace and degree of any downturn in prices.

"We don't prefer $137 (a barrel) today and $10 tomorrow. Whether it's $80, $ 90, $110, whatever, that price should reflect supply and demand fundamentals," el-Badri said. continued.......