World's Energy

BRIEFLY 30.06.2008 - Deutsche Welle - Representatives of oil-producing and consuming nations have gathered in the Spanish capital, Madrid, for the World Petroleum Congress. This came as oil hit a new record high of more than $143 a barrel in European trading. A similar meeting held in Saudi Arabia earlier this month failed to take the heat out of the market. Part of the problem is that oil producing and consuming nations haven't been able to agree on what is causing oil prices to soar. Some producer countries blame speculators for the doubling of the price of crude over the past 12 months. US officials say that it is a supply-side problem and that OPEC members need to step up production.