OPEC'S secretary-general blamed market speculators for soaring oil prices yesterday, saying they have stripped his cartel of control over the global cost of fuel.

Abdalla Salem El-Badri said speculation and the weak dollar are responsible for record crude prices -- which topped US$135 a barrel yesterday, up nearly 4 percent from US$130 on Tuesday.

"We are not very happy with the rise in oil prices... it has nothing to do with OPEC," El-Badri told reporters during a visit to Ecuador.

OPEC will not boost output or price its oil in euros -- which are currently more stable than US dollars -- because it is convinced that rising prices "have nothing to do with the basic elements" of supply and demand, he said, insisting that current supplies are sufficient.

The best way to control prices is to "control speculation," he said, referring to futures traders who some experts say have bid up the price of oil by a significant amount.

More than two-thirds of global trade is still conducted in dollars, he added, making a shift to the euro difficult at this time.