Oil search escalates

The world’s biggest oil producers have boosted their search for oil and gas to one of the highest levels in two decades as prices yesterday neared record highs of more than $US78 a barrel.

The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, the cartel that controls three-quarters of global oil reserves, said its members operated 336 oil rigs last year, an increase of 11.5 per cent since 2005, in response to strong demand from developing countries.
The cartel’s annual statistical bulletin shows that member countries were operating the second-largest oil rig fleet since 1982, when oil prices hit an all-time high, in today’s money, of about $US90 a barrel. US oil prices on Tuesday rose to $US78.23 a barrel, just below the $US78.40 nominal high.

The number of oil rigs in operation is seen as one of the best estimates of investment trends. Oil-producing countries rarely give out data on the amount of money they invest. OPEC is financing its capacity expansion on record revenues of $US650 billion ($767 billion) last year, up 22 per cent from 2005.

Australian