G8 organisation meets to discuss soaring oil prices
Sunday, 08 Jun 2008 10:19
Energy ministers are discussing how to lower the soaring prices of the commodity
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Energy ministers from the world's eight most industrialised countries are in Japan to discuss the soaring price of oil.
The meeting comes after the price of the commodity jumped by over $10 (£5) to $139 (£69) a barrel – the biggest one-day increase in history.
Yesterday, the US, China, Japan, India and South Korea jointly called for an increase in production in order to halt the rise in the price of oil.
In the statement they expressed "serious concerns" on the cost of the product, which is vital for manufacturing processes and transport industries, saying that current prices were not in anyone's interests and were particularly damaging to "resource-scarce developing countries".
Meanwhile, US energy secretary Sam Bodman has also called on developing countries to end subsidies on the product saying that such moves did not curtail demand for the product.
"We know demand is increasing because a lot of nations are still subsidising oil, which ought to stop," Mr Bodman added.
Global oil prices have increased by over 40 per cent this year with analysts citing increasing consumption in prosperous developing countries such as India and China, as well as supply concerns due to tension in the
Middle East and key producer Nigeria as reasons for the spike.