LONDON: Britain’s Treasury chief Gordon Brown yesterday called on Opec countries to boost oil production and proposed coordinated international action to stabilize oil markets.
“The first action we must take is to tackle the cause of the problem, ensuring concerted global action is taken to bring down world oil prices and stabilise the market for the long term,” Brown said in a speech to the Trades Union Congress in Brighton.
“From the additional $300 billion a year in revenue Opec countries are now enjoying and the additional $800 billion available to oil producers, there must be additional new investment in production and global investment in refining capacity,” he added.
By focusing on producers, Brown in effect rejected calls from a group of fuel protesters who plan a three-day demonstration at refineries beginning Wednesday to support demands for relief from Britain’s high fuel taxes.
The price of unleaded petrol in some area has nudged past £1 per liter. Taxes represent about 47 per cent of the pump price.
The government said Tuesday that fuel prices had risen 12.5 per cent compared to August last year, driving consumer price inflation to an eight-year high of 2.4 per cent in August.
The threat of action against refineries has alarmed motorists, and queues have grown at petrol stations as car owners fill up to guard against any interruption of fuel supplies. A few dealers reported running out of fuel because of heavy demand.
Brown also said a lack of transparency about the world’s reserves and plans for their development undermine stability and cause speculation. He said the world must call on the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries to become more open and more transparent.
The Treasury said Brown would present his plan to the annual meetings of the G-8 group of major industrialised countries, the International Monetary Fund and World Bank.
Opec meets later this month.
The Fuel Lobby, a loosely organised protest group, is calling on the public to “attend” oil refineries beginning today to start their protests. “We are not calling for a blockade, but if oil companies decide they cannot send out lorries while there is a public presence at their site, then that is a matter for them,” said Fuel Lobby spokesman Andrew Spence.
The protest nonetheless revived memories of wildcat blockades of refineries in 2000, when nearly a week of protests dried up supplies.
Ray Holloway, director of the Petrol Retailers Association, said the surge in demand was not on the scale of panic five years ago.
“If people are complaining about the price of fuel is seems bizarre that they will invest in this fuel – put it in their tank – and not use it for a lengthy period of time,” Holloway said on Monday.    – AP

Last update on: 14-9-2005