Chavez says not in favor of further oil price rise

RECIFE, Brazil, March 27 (Reuters) - OPEC nation Venezuela is not interested in a further rise of oil prices although a credit crisis in the United States is making stability difficult, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said on Thursday.

Chavez told a news conference with his Brazilian counterpart Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva that the war in Iraq had put an end to a balance on the oil market and exporters like Venezuela were not to blame for the rally.

"We are not interested in prices rising further, but the crisis in the United States can affect the world," Chavez said. "May the prices not rise, but we are not the ones responsible."

Chavez has said recently he viewed $100 per barrel as a fair price for crude, which fetched around $107 a barrel in New York on Thursday CLc1.

"The invasion of Iraq destabilized the Middle East and put an end to the equilibrium," he said, adding that the global economic situation in general was "complicated" and impacting oil prices. (Reporting by Mair Pena Neto; Writing by Andrei Khalip; Editing by Christian Wiessner)