OPEC's Web site was defaced by an online vandal apparently upset about the worldwide attention being paid to the organization over soaring oil prices.
The graffiti-like attack appeared Tuesday night at the bottom of the opening screen of www.opec.org. After several seconds, visitors were taken to the main menu.
The message urged OPEC members to get "in gear with the price of crude, we really need to focus on the poverty-stricken countries, who don't even have enough money for aspirin, let alone exorbitant (sic) prices for heating oil ..."
Someone calling themselves "fluxnyne" apparently takes credit for writing the statement.
Hours after the defacement was first reported, the Web site became inaccessible. OPEC could not immediately be reached for comment.
OPEC has been under worldwide scrutiny recently as the price of crude oil hovers near 10-year highs. Last weekend, oil producing nations said they would increase daily production by 800,000 barrels in an effort to bring down prices.
On Tuesday, OPEC President Ali Rodriguez warned that the world is facing a possible energy crisis similar to that of the 1970s when high oil prices hurt demand and fueled inflation.
The written statement disparaging the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries is different from a "hack" in that it is neither technologically difficult to perform nor particularly harmful to a Web site.
