New Delhi, Oct 30: Cartel of oil producing countries, Opec, today rejected India's plea for concessional crude oil pricing on the ground that it operated on market forces but admitted that current prices carried a war premium of 5-6 dollars a barrel. "We do not give discounts. We work with market price," Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) secretary general Alvaro Silva said an interview here.
He said Opec member countries extend bilateral financial assistance to developing countries but discounts were completely ruled out.

Silva said oil prices were on the lower side of the Opec band of 22-28 dollars per barrel and "this is our contribution to improve the world economies."
While India has been seeking 22-23 dollars a barrel price, Opec basket of seven crudes has averaged around 26 dollars a barrel in the first six months of current fiscal.
Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia, world's largest producer of oil and Opec member, said the current price levels were okay and did not warrant any cuts. Bureau Report