UNCTAD is also actively working on issues related to the impact of oil price volatility on African oil importing and oil exporting countries.

Improving that capacity would benefit both oil exporting and oil importing countries.

However, domestic demand will retain some of its momentum and will partially compensate for the slowdown in the exports of the region's net fuel importing countries.

On the issue of the recent stress felt by oil importing countries, which were facing increasing balance of payment limitations, there could be greater cooperation between the oil producing and oil consuming countries.

The Oil Producing Countries

Higher oil prices have increased the government revenue of many oil exporting countries but a number of oil importing countries have seen their deficits increase, particularly those developing countries that are providing government subsidies to alleviate the impact of higher oil prices.

Its membership remains restricted to OECD countries, even though surging demand from non member countries like China and India is rapidly undermining the IEA s ability to speak for, and coordinate responses among, oil importers as a group.

Oil exporting countries

The act of moving the dollar off of gold and tying it to foreign oil instantly forced every oil importing country in the world to start maintaining a constant supply of federal reserve paper.

countries b 3.3 6.3 3.7 0.0 1.4 2.4 2.8 1.6 15.0

Oil exporters (percentage)

Oil exporting countries 2.1 0.3 2.7 2.0 0.1 4.0 4.5 3.4 24.1

1. Debt indicators for capital importing developing countries, 1983 1993 11

Net food importing countries have called for their interests to be duly taken into account.

These countries were thus termed the capital importing developing countries.

The region's net oil importing countries are forecast to grow by 5.25 per cent in 2005, after 6.5 per cent in 2004.

a DAC and OPEC sources.

Indeed, the significant and disproportionate impact of the most recent increases on the poorest oil importing developing countries had not been offset to the same extent as in 2000 and 2004 by higher non oil commodity prices.

Countries like ours that are net importers of oil have to produce more in order to export more and thereby to be able to import the same number of barrels of oil.

The Republic of Korea and Taiwan Province of China were also major importing countries.

Thus, it seemed that the capital importing developing countries as a whole were very much at risk.

46. Over three quarters of the investment flows were directed to oil exporting countries, although the share of non oil producing countries has increased in recent years.

The oil producing countries have suffered a sudden reversal of fortune.

It was also emphasized that it is important to take due account of the concerns of net food importing developing countries and LDCs.

Oil prices have surged to more than 100 per barrel, as China, India, and other oil importing countries join the United States in a massive scramble to buy up supplies, especially from the Middle East.

Furthermore, the higher oil prices were affecting the productivity and competitiveness of many oil importing countries and lowering the GDP of the highly indebted poor countries, especially in sub Saharan Africa.

For oil importing sub Saharan African countries, the additional costs would have to be accommodated by reductions in reserves, non oil imports and domestic demand, with a potential serious impact on poverty.

Lastly, the stress on oil importing developing countries caused by high energy prices had been mitigated by the 7.4 billion from the OPEC Fund for International Development which had been earmarked for development.

Each importing country has its own definition of sustainability in this respect.

At the same time, oil hedging not only raises oil prices but results in huge reserves of cash in oil producing countries.

When the dust settled, it turned out that American, Dutch, and other importers all suffered roughly the same degree of shortfall and paid the same damaging high price.

This year the downturn affected both oil exporting and other countries.

Imported Feeds

Secondly, as all our colleagues have said in this discussion, high oil prices are a heavy burden on the poorest developing and oil importing countries in particular and have resulted in a loss of 2.7 per cent of their gross domestic product.

We also call on the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries to recycle petrodollars and extraordinary profits from the oil trade in the form of equity investments and long term, low interest loans to medium and poor oil importing States.

As was highlighted at UNCTAD's African Oil Gas Trade and Finance conferences (Africa's largest annual energy meetings), oil importing countries face exactly the same types of problems when oil prices rise, and the same recipes apply.

One recent example was the Gulf crisis that produced, at least for a short to medium term period, a multiple adverse impact on the world economy as a whole and particularly the national economies of several oil importing countries.

Other than in oil producing countries, development in West Asian countries has been disappointing.

But it seemed that the crisis could engulf all the rest, namely, the quot capital importing developing countries quot .

Key LDC products imported under US preferential schemes in 2002

Finally, there is the relationship between oil prices and fiscal and monetary policies in the oil consuming countries.

Since the mid 1990 s, Equatorial Guinea has become a large oil exporter.

It should be noted that the increase in energy prices was not limited to oil. Furthermore, oil producing countries were paying a high price for the technology which they were importing.

Buys imported champagne.

Another issue which had been overlooked was the contributions made by oil exporting countries to developing countries.