A report published today says the price of oil will soar in the coming months unless the OPEC cartel pushes up output.
'The world needs more oil if another price surge is to be avoided,' the London-based energy research group Centre for Global Energy Studies said in a monthly study.
Crude prices were trading close to their highest readings for more than nine months, holding close to $69 a barrel in New York and not far off $72 in London. Prices fell by around $1 today, however, after a general strike ended in key producer Nigeria.
The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries argues that the oil market is well-supplied, but the Paris-based International Energy Agency has called on the cartel to pump more crude in order to prevent even higher prices.
In its report, the CGES pointed out that oil prices were set to record a record quarterly gain of close to $11 a barrel between the first quarter of 2007 and the second quarter.
'This dramatic rise in oil prices would seem to suggest that the world is short of oil and ought to be providing a clear signal to OPEC that its members need to put more oil into the market,' it added.
