Kuwaiti official: Oil price to remain high

4 August 2008

Oil prices may never again fall below the $100 (£50.67) per barrel mark, it has been claimed.

Khaled Boodai, a member of Kuwait's Supreme Petroleum Council, believes that although prices are unlikely to return to the recent record levels, they will remain high.

Last month the cost of a barrel of light, sweet crude oil was pushed close to $147 before dipping back to $125.

Mr Boodai observed: "I don't think that prices will return to the record level, nor will they fall below $100 per barrel. I think that the price will stabilise."

And analyst Paul Harris told the Irish Examiner that continuing geopolitical problems, such as tension over Iran's nuclear programme, would combine with supply difficulties in the US to keep prices high.

Police in the Highlands area of Scotland have reported an increase in home heating oil thefts, with soaring costs leading to three times the number of incidents already this year than were seen in the whole of 2007.

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