AOMORI (AFP) - 07/06/08 08:23
Crude oil prices: Asian powers and USA worried about the global economy
The United States and the four largest Asian economic powers expressed their concerns on Saturday about the new record for the price of oil which they believe will derail the world economy.
Photographer: Raveendran AFP / Archives :: The opposition criticizes the rise in the price of fuel to the Indian government, June 4, 2008 in New Delhiagrandirphoto 1 / 3photo: Raveendran, AFP
Photographer: David Mcnew AFP / Getty Images / Archives :: Demonstration against rising gas prices June 3, 2008 in Los Angeles (California) enlarge photo 2/3 photo: David Mcnew, AFP
Photographer: Karen Bleier AFP / Archives :: Oil well in North Dakota, in the United States, in May 2007agrandirphoto 3 / 3photo: Karen Bleier, AFP
Crude oil prices, which have increased fivefold since 2003, broke a new record Friday in New York with an unprecedented jump of $ 10,75 in one session to finish at $ 138,54.
Speaking to the press ahead of the meeting in Aomori (northern Japan), with his counterparts from China, India, Japan and South Korea, US Secretary of Energy Samuel Bodman acknowledged that this new record was "a shock" to the already struggling US economy.
He warned oil-producing countries that a slump in US growth would do them no good "because they are counting on us to be a critical engine of global economic activity."
Brodman said there was no oil crisis, therefore, and that there was no need to regulate the market.
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read more In his opening speech, Japanese Industry Minister Akira Amari stressed that "the world energy situation has worsened" since the first meeting of the five powers in Beijing in 2006.
"It has become a major risk factor for the world economy, "he said, recalling that the price of crude was around $ 65 a barrel, less than two years ago, when it is approaching 140 dollars today."It is very important that we, the five nations that consume half of the world's energy, come together and send a joint message on the action we need to take," he added.
In a meeting with South Korean Economy Minister Lee Youn-Ho, Amari said current oil prices are "unusually high".
"We want to send a message about this to the rest of the world," he said.
The South Korean minister also said that crude prices were not "at normal levels". "One has to wonder if the world economy will have the capacity to continue to develop at such price levels," he added.
Morgan Stanley analysts expect black gold price to hit $ 150 by July 4, US National Day and peak summer travel season in less than a month .
Sunday, it will be the turn of the energy ministers of the industrialized countries of the G8 (Germany, Canada, United States, France, Great Britain, Italy, Japan, Russia) to address the issue. An enlarged meeting to include China, India and South Korea will then be held.
Russia is the only major producer of oil and gas among these 11 countries, whose total energy demand represents 65% of world needs, according to figures from the International Energy Agency (IEA).
Environmental issues are also on the menu for the two-day meeting, with the 11 participating countries accounting for around 65% of the greenhouse gas emissions responsible for global warming. It will be one of the main themes of the G8 summit scheduled for July in Toyako (northern Japan).
Japan, which chairs the G8 this year, intends to push for greater cooperation between the IEA and China and India, and to insist that states resist the temptation to subsidize fuels and let the market set prices freely, according to a government official.
Source: orange.fr
