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LONDON: Oil prices eased on Monday but held near $140 a barrel after
rocketing to record heights late last week, sparking a fresh call
from consumer nations for higher global production.
Crude soared beyond $139 on Friday after a shock
jump in US unemployment sent the dollar reeling and Wall Street
plunging by more than three percent amid warnings that the global
economy could tip into recession.
On Monday, New York’s main oil futures
contract, light sweet crude for July delivery, dipped 35 cents to
$138.19 a barrel.
The contract had spiked on Friday by $10.75 a
barrel—its biggest-ever one-day jump—after soaring past $137,
$138 and $139 to hit an all-time high of $139.12.
On Monday, Brent North Sea crude for July
delivery handed back 44 cents to $137.25. Brent had hit a lifetime
pinnacle of $138.12 and gained $10.15 in value on Friday.
“Wow. What else can anyone say?” said
Cameron Hanover analyst Peter Beutel in reaction to the
breath-taking surge.
He said: “Equities traders all saw the rise in
oil prices for what it is—an economy buster.”
Last week’s record run beat the previous
record highs of $135.09 in New York and $135.14 in London, that were
set on May 22.
Beutel added: “For us, Friday was as dark a
day as we have seen. We fear that many of our world leaders have
failed to grasp its significance.”
Over the weekend, eleven nations that guzzle
nearly two-thirds of the world’s energy called for an urgent hike
in global oil production as host Japan warned the world could plunge
into recession.
Energy ministers from the Group of Eight (G8)
industrial powers met on Sunday in the northern Japanese city of
Aomori with officials from China, India and South Korea in the wake
of the record oil price spike.
The 11 nations represented voiced “serious
concerns” over the level of oil prices and said there was an
“urgent need for increased and timely investment in the energy
sector.”
“If we leave this situation as it is, it could
lead to a recession of the world economy,” Japan’s energy
minister Akira Amari said as he opened the meeting.
Oil prices have soared five-fold since 2003 due
to a variety of factors, including turbulence in the Middle East and
rising demand in emerging economies such as China and India.
-- AFP
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