The US is not concerned over recent comments from some OPEC members that
they are keen to use an alternative to the dollar for pricing crude due to the
currency's recent weakening, US energy secretary Samuel Bodman said Tuesday in
London.

Asked whether the US is concerned over such comments, he said: "No."

The recent rise in world oil prices to close to $100/barrel has been in
part attributed to the weakness of the dollar, and at the OPEC summit in
Riyadh last weekend there were calls from some member countries' heads of
state for a move to a harder currency to serve as the basis for oil trading.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and Iranian President Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad both said they wanted to discuss the issue of moving to an
alternative currency.

Ahmadinejad said all the leaders at the summit were interested in
changing hard currency reserves to a "good hard currency."

However, OPEC's official declaration from the summit steered clear of any
mention of the weakness of the dollar, which is used for almost all
international oil trade.

Bodman also reiterated Tuesday that he has asked OPEC members to increase
production. Bodman said he has told OPEC officials he believes OECD oil stocks
are some 100 million barrels below their five-year average, justifying a call
to increase production.