Saudi Arabia calls for emergency summit as oil prices soar

Saudi Arabia today called for a summit of oil producing countries and consumers to discuss how to prevent oil prices from soaring further, following last week’s surge to a record high of $139 a barrel.

The country’s Information and Culture Minister, Iyad Madani, said that the kingdom would work with OPEC to “guarantee the availability of oil supplies now and in the future”.


In a statement following the weekly meeting of the Saudi Cabinet, Mr Madani said the current price of oil was unjustified and pledged action to prevent further “unwarranted and unnatural” price hikes.

The price of a barrel jumped by over $10 on Friday – the largest ever one day increase – as the dollar weakened further and tensions escalated between Israel and Iran, the world’s fourth-largest exporter.

Times of London