Press Release: Commissioner Piebalgs calls on oil producing and consuming countries to bring barrel prices down

Speaking in Jeddah (Saudi Arabia) at today's summit on oil prices, Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs called on producing and consuming countries to jointly take measures with the clear objective of bringing oil prices down. 'Oil prices over 100$ are damaging for both consuming and producing countries. We have a common interest to work as a partnership to reduce volatility in the markets and bring oil prices back to sensible levels. We need to act together to return confidence and stability to the world economy and prevent recession', said Commissioner Piebalgs. 'This can only be done by addressing market fundamentals. Oil producing countries should increase both production and investment in new production capacity. Consuming countries should push strongly on energy efficiency; ensure that emergency stocks are at high levels and combat market speculation. With determined action on all these fronts, we can bring the price of barrel to a reasonable level', he added.

European Commission: SPEECH/08/348: Jeddah Energy Meeting http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=SPEECH/08/348&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en

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