International   

Get used to high oil prices: Saudi King

Dubai: Blaming energy taxes, speculation and high consumption for soaring oil prices, Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah said both producers and consumers should control these factors to “soften” the impact on the people.

“Consuming countries should reduce taxes on petroleum products if they really wanted to soften the burden on consumers,” said King Abdullah in an interview with Kuwait’s Assiyassah Arabic newspaper.

The King also asked consumers to get used to rising oil prices as there were no chances of its going down.

“We have nothing to do with the current sharp increase in oil prices.

“But these are still cheap compared to prices of alternative energy products available,” the King was quoted as saying.

The King has asked oil producing and consuming countries to find out the real reasons of unprecedented surge in prices which have crossed $140 per barrel and tackle them in a clear and transparent manner.

He said Saudi Arabia had always called for a reasonable price for oil, without causing harm to consumers as well as producers.

“We adopted this policy to protect the interest of the whole world,” he added.

However, the King said he did not believe an increase in output would stop speculative trade.

“Speculators believe that oil prices will remain high and these viewpoints do not concern us as producing countries. We present our products in the world market in accordance with real prices, whether they are high or low,” he said. — PTI

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Get used to high oil prices: Saudi King
Protest over assault on journalists
Shift focus from Musharraf to security: Boucher
Events undermine stock market
3 die as Palestinian goes on the rampage
‘Climate change pact not possible sans India, China’

Copyright © 2008, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu