BP chief says oil supply not responding to demand

Chief Executive of British Petroleum Tony Hayward in a file photo.

MADRID (Reuters) - The Chief Executive of oil major BP (BP.L) said on Monday oil supply was not responding to higher demand and that the argument speculators were to blame for record prices above $140/barrel was a "myth".

"Supply is not responding adequately to rising demand," Tony Hayward told the World Petroleum Congress.

He added that politics rather than geology was the reason.

"The problems are above ground not below it," he said.

He dismissed the claim, frequently made by OPEC, many of whose members are reluctant to allow western oil companies invest in their oil industries, that speculators were to blame for high prices.

"This is not a speculative bubble," he said.

(Reporting by Tom Bergin; Editing by David Holmes)