UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says major oil producer Saudi Arabia views current prices as "abnormally high".
He also said that the country, the leading producer in the Opec cartel of oil output nations, is willing to take action to bring prices down.
Mr Ban was speaking after a meeting with the Saudi monarch, King Abdullah.
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'Adequate levels'
Speaking after the weekend talks in Jeddah, Mr Ban said: "He [King Abdullah] acknowledged that the current oil prices are abnormally high due to speculative factors and some other national government policies.
"He is willing to what he can to [bring] the price of oil to adequate levels."
And he added that the Saudis, who appear poised to take "concrete measures", also seemed "to be considering very seriously how they can address this issue by increasing production".
On Friday, the Saudi oil minister said current elevated oil prices - which hit a record high of more than $139 (Ј71) a barrel last week - were unjustified.
Oil minister Ali al-Naimi said a meeting of oil exporters and importers to be held in Jeddah later this month would seek a solution to the unprecedented high prices, the Saudi state news agency said.
It has been predicted in some reports that the Saudis plan to raise output next month by about half a million barrels a day, to 10 million barrels.
(BBC)
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