Guardian: French demand Opec summit as IMF warns over price surge Special report: the petrol war Larry Elliott, economics editor Thursday September 21, 2000 Fresh waves of intense speculation drove oil prices to a 10-year-high of almost $38 a barrel in New York last night, prompting calls for an emergency summit between western nations and the oil cartel Opec to cap the cost of energy. Amid fears that the surge in the price of crude could harm the world economy, France is to urge that this weekend's meeting of G7 finance ministers in the Czech capital Prague convene special talks involving the EU, the US and the 11-nation oil producers' cartel. Lionel Jospin, the French prime minister, said last night: "This is where we should start to set out the terms of dialogue with the producer countries." A meeting between oil producing and oil consuming nations to discuss the near-quadrupling of prices since early 1999 is already scheduled for November in Saudi Arabia. But the early gathering suggested by France before next week's summit of Opec heads of state looks impossible. Opec officials said ministers would be travelling this weekend to a summit in Venezuela. However, Europe-wide fuel protests have prompted calls for Opec to do more to bring down prices. Optimism that its decision 10 days ago to boost production by 800,000 barrels a day would help lower the price to around $25 a barrel has been dampened by fears that a hard winter in the west will leave countries short of oil. Oil dealers yesterday sent New York crude futures racing to the highest level since 1990. US light crude for October hit a peak of $37.80 - a rise of $1.30 on the day. In the City, the price of Brent crude from the North sea for November delivery reached $34.55. The latest price spike drew an International Monetary Fund warning that rising costs are casting a shadow over the economy. "The balance of risks for the world economy has become a bit less favourable but there is no need to dramatise or panic," said IMF managing director Hoerst Koehler. Opec said yesterday that it stood ready to raise production again. "We have increased production by over 3.2m barrels a day in six months. That should do the job," its secretary general, Rilwanu Lukman said. "If prices remain high, we don't need a meeting, we'll act." _______________________________________________ Crashlist resources: http://website.lineone.net/~resource_base To change your options or unsubscribe go to: http://lists.wwpublish.com/mailman/listinfo/crashlist
