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Dow JonesLONDON -(Dow Jones)- A crude price at about $100 a barrel will bring the oil burden on developed economies to around levels last seen in the crisis of 2008, the chief economist of the International Energy Agency said Monday.
In an interview with Dow Jones Newswires, Fatih Birol said "if we assume that oil prices remain around $100 in 2011, the import bill to
in the U.S. will be 2.6%, very close to the level we saw in 2008" of 2.8%.
"In Europe, it would be 2.2%, exactly what we had in the year 2008," added Birol, whose agency acts an energy watchdog for the world's most industrialized nations. The statements put a quantitative assessment on a warning by the IEA that current oil prices--presently close to $100 a barrel--could endanger the economic recovery in industrialized countries.
The comments could ratchet up pressure on the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries to formally increase its production ceiling after the group said Monday in its monthly report that markets would need more of its own crude this year than originally thought.
Despite mounting demand for its oil, OPEC has so far rejected the idea of opening the spigots. Its president, Iran oil minister Masoud Mirkazemi, was quoted Monday as saying: "Some of the OPEC members see no need for an emergency meeting even with prices at $110 or $120."
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