LAGOS, Nov 10: There is no fundamental justification for oil at $100 a barrel and Opec member Nigeria is assuming that prices will not last at this level, oil minister Odein Ajumogobia said on Saturday.

Ajumogobia, who is heading to Riyadh next week to attend an Opec heads of state summit on Nov 17, told Reuters that no-one in the oil exporters’ group would be surprised if the price fell to $80 in the next few weeks.

“$100 oil was speculated about three, four, five months ago and we are there now. There is no indication why it has reached $100 in terms of supply and demand indices,” he told Reuters in a telephone interview.

Oil futures in New York struck a record high of $98.62 a barrel on Wednesday, having risen from below $50 at the start of the year.