G8 to Mull Incentives for Refineries – FT

The Group of Eight industrialized nations will consider next month whether to grant tax breaks to oil companies to spur investment in new refineries, the Financial Times (FT) reported on Tuesday.

U.S. oil prices have climbed back near to record highs over $55 a barrel, fueled by fears that already stretched global oil refiners will struggle to meet peak demand for diesel and heating oil this winter.

Leaders of the G8, comprising the United States, Japan, Germany, Britain, France, Italy, Canada and Russia, will discuss the plan when they meet in Scotland next month, the FT quoted an unnamed senior energy official as saying.

But it warned that tax breaks would probably encounter political opposition at a time when oil companies are earning bumper profits and lobby groups are pressing for funding for poverty relief.
ABC News