An acceptable range for oil prices is higher than $75 to $85 a barrel because of inflation, Opec's Secretary General  Abdullah al-Badri said on Thursday.  

He said it was very difficult to specify a precise range, but inflation, including higher food import costs, meant the $75-$85 range cited by Opec previously was "in the past".

Unrest sweeping the Arab World had added a roughly $15-$20 a barrel premium he told a session of the World Economic Forum in Vienna.

He said the breakdown of Opec's Wednesday meeting was due to economic differences, not politics. "Now we are unhappy that we did not reach a decision but this is not the end of the world," Badri said. "It was not political, it was really an economic situation."    

The meeting left Opec in disarray with leading producer Saudi Arabia committed to sharply raising its own output after its proposal backed by fellow Gulf Arabs to lift output was blocked.

"We've faced these difficulties many times in the past," Badri said. "Of course for the past six years we have enjoyed a very relaxed atmosphere, now we have some tension. I hope we will overcome it."  - Reuters