Saudia Arabia seeks oil summit; BP chief calls on govts to drop fuel tax 10 Jun 2008 Australian Broadcasting Corporation Transcripts (c) 2008 Australian Broadcasting Corporation
TONY EASTLEY: Saudi Arabia which has called for a summit of oil producers and consumers in a bid to stem the soaring prices says the recent rises in oil can't be justified by market fundamentals. Everyone is looking for a solution. Truck drivers from Europe to Indonesia took to the streets overnight in protest and the chief executive of BP called on governments to drop fuel taxes to help ease the burden on industry and motorists. Emma Alberici reports. EMMA ALBERICI: The credit crisis looks crude in the face of rising fuel costs. Truck drivers in South Korea are threatening a stop-work strike. In Indian administered Kashmir they are in the midst of a four day protest with commercial transport businesses off the road as companies call for an increase in passenger fares. Across Europe, truck drivers in Spain, France and Portugal have staged a protest, blocking roads and calling for the price of fuel to be cut or subsidised. Jean Claude Ferrand is the president of Adetec - the haulier's trade body in north east Spain. JEAN CLAUDE FERRAND (translated): We have no more solutions. We can't afford diesel anymore. It is as simple as that. EMMA ALBERICI: Western leaders including Kevin Rudd and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown have called on OPEC to increase production. Overnight Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest producer, called for a summit to discuss the situation but Information and Culture Minister Iyad Madani stopped short of promising an increase in production. Saudi produces 9.4-million barrels a day but it has the ability to increase by about two-million barrels a day. The world currently consumes 85-million barrels a day Brian Wilson is the UK's former Energy minister under Tony Blair. Speaking on the BBC this morning he agreed with Saudi Arabia that it was no longer the forces of supply and demand that were driving up prices but rather the influence of professional investors. BRIAN WILSON: It is certainly what takes it from 100 to 130 is that there is a huge speculative element and the actual connection between the paper trading price of oil and anything that it happening in the physical world is now extremely remote. EMMA ALBERICI: And big oil, quiet during much of this dispute, has finally weighed in.Tony Hayward, the Chief Executive of BP told an oil and gas conference in Kuala Lumpur that the taxes governments take from the oil and gas industry have continued to increase around the world. He said this was unsustainable and counterproductive.He blamed high taxes in western countries for much of the problem. That money he said could have been used on new production, upgrading refineries and investing in alternative forms of energy. TONY EASTLEY: Emma Alberici reporting. Terms of use <http://www.factiva.com/integration/termsofuse> 2008 Factiva, Inc. All rights reserved Holland H. Simanjuntak ------------------------------------- Voice: +84 (8) 899 9375 Ext. 2242 Cell: +84 (90) 300 2310 Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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