OPEC calls on UK to cut fuel duty or risk a long-term spike in oil

Oil cartel OPEC has called on Western governments, including Britain, to cut duty on petrol prices or risk fuelling a much higher oil price in the future.

Saudi Arabia’s oil minister Ali al-Naimi and Abdalla S El-Badri, secretary-general of OPEC, said low demand was “wreaking havoc” for oil producers.

The producers claimed the collapse of prices to a four-year low of $36 a barrel is harming investment in the sector, creating supply problems for years to come. “A number of upstream projects have already been cancelled or delayed,” Mr al-Naimi said at a meeting of energy ministers in London.


A cut in fuel duty, according to OPEC, would encourge cash-strapped consumers to buy more petrol, bolster demand for oil and encourage producers to develop new supplies.

Ministers from 27 countries and delegates from oil organisations convened at the London Energy Meeting, hosted by energy and climate change secretary Ed Miliband.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who gave an opening speech at the conference, urging OPEC and other producers to continue to invest despite the crumbling in oil prices. Mr Brown also called for greater transparency in oil trading. Western governments have so far resisted the suggestion that speculation plays a large part in shaping oil prices, but the Prime Minister today proposed tougher regulation of the market.

Telegraph