During a two-day summit of European Union finance ministers in Manchester in England, calls were made for a global response to high oil prices.
EU ministers urged producers to invest in future supplies and warned of the risks to economic growth.
The British Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown, said the ministers had agreed that the dialogue between major oil producing countries and those that consume it needed to be strengthened in order to increase oil supplies.
The ministers called on oil producing countries to invest revenues from the price rise in new capacity, and urged oil companies to increase investment in oil exploration, production, refining capacity and alternative energy sources.
World oil prices rose again yesterday amid renewed supply concerns after data revealed severe disruptions to production after Hurricane Katrina caused widespread damage to oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico and refineries in the southern United States.
