May 29 (Bloomberg) -- The price of oil should be between $70 and $75 a barrel to cover the costs of production, OPEC President Jose Maria Botelho de Vasconcelos said in an interview with Diario Economico.

That price range is satisfactory for the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, the main producers and international investors, Botelho de Vasconcelos told the Portuguese newspaper.

Alternative sources of energy are still in an “embryonic phase,” Botelho de Vasconcelos said, according to Diario. There is still a long way to go until there is a substantial reduction in oil consumption, said Botelho de Vasconcelos, who is also Angola’s oil minister.

To contact the reporter on this story: Joao Lima in Lisbon at jlima1@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: May 29, 2009 03:47 EDT