World leaders called to oil summit

CRISIS SUMMIT: Saudi Arabia wants world heads of state to attend the upcoming oil summit between oil producer and consumer nations. (Getty Images)

Saudi Arabia, the top world oil exporter, wants heads of state to attend a June 22 meeting it is hosting of producers and consumers to discuss record oil prices, diplomats said on Wednesday.

It was unclear, however, if any leaders would attend the talks in Jeddah, the diplomats said. US Energy Secretary Sam Bodman and the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Wednesday they would attend.

"We will be there, Mr Tanaka will go," IEA official Didier Houssin told newswire Reuters, referring to Nobuo Tanaka, the agency's executive director.

Oil hit a record $139.12 a barrel on Friday and was trading above $134 on Wednesday, a level OPEC has said is not justified by supply and demand. Consumers are worried about the impact of high prices on economic growth.

Oil producers and consumers met less than two months ago in Rome, but failed to produce any concrete measures to tame oil prices. They did not even manage to agree that prices, which were then around $20 below current levels, were too high.

The Paris-based IEA is an adviser to 27 industrialised countries on energy policy and was set up during the 1970s oil crisis to give rich consuming nations a voice.

"We learnt about the meeting very recently and we need to see what the Saudis have in mind," Houssin added.

OPEC Secretary General Abdullah Al-Badri on Tuesday told Reuters that Saudi Arabia, OPEC's most influential member, would host the meeting on June 22 in Jeddah.

OPEC member Kuwait on Wednesday reiterated its support for the meeting and fellow member Nigeria welcomed the Saudi initiative.

A source close to the meeting said many energy ministers, including Bodman, would attend and Al-Badri said investment banks such as Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley had also been invited.

The two banks are among the firms that have raised their oil-price forecasts recently, which other traders and analysts said has helped to fuel gains in the oil price.

Banks and oil companies said on Wednesday they had yet to be asked.

"We have not received an invitation," a Goldman Sachs spokesman said. A spokesman for BP also said the company had yet to be invited. (Reuters)

Print | Email | Discuss this article

| Share |

READERS' COMMENTS

Click here to post a comment

Add your Comment All posts are sent to the administrator for review and are published only after approval. ArabianBusiness.com reserves the right to remove any comment at any time for any reason. Please keep your responses appropriate and on topic. Arabian Business would like to point out that only comments relevant to the story will be published. Any containing personal insults or inappropriate language will not be approved.
Name *
Remember me on this computer
Email *	(Your email address will not be published)
City
Country
Subject *
Comment *
Notify me of further comments
Enter the words above *
Please click post only once - your comment will not be published immediately.

MORE FROM ARABIANBUSINESS.COM