Any lower price in euros would cause excess global demand for oil, while a price above 75 euros would not create enough demand to absorb all of the oil that producers wanted to sell at that price.

As global oil demand increases, there is not enough capacity to meet it a cycle that will continue until demand collapses.

Because oil is priced in dollars, a weak dollar makes oil cheaper to users in other countries, which increases global demand.

Unless global demand collapses, at some point in the future oil production will peak and eventually be exhausted.

Oil prices will continue to rise until demand collapses.

As the representatives of Kuwait and the Islamic Republic of Iran had pointed out, high oil prices were indeed caused by growing demand rather than restricted supply.

For it to be useful, believers in scarce oil must be able to predict such things as the timing of the oil peak, the state of demand when oil production reaches it, and the pattern of decline.

And, given rising global demand for oil, particularly in developing countries, energy import prices will remain high.

But the picture is far more complicated, because oil demand is extremely price insensitive. In the short run, it is technically difficult to adjust consumption.

After all, a collapse in oil prices would be a death sentence for several new energy technologies, and, not incidentally, would increase demand for oil.

With the world demand for oil surging, particularly from China and India, oil prices rose and economic growth continued in 2004 in the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) region (except for conflict zones) for the second consecutive year.

As more poor countries join the club of emerging economies, and many subsidized renewable energy projects fail in the developed and emerging economies, demand for oil will continue to grow.

After 2015, easily accessible supplies of oil and gas probably will no longer keep up with demand.

Oil demand is slow to change because of behavioral inertia and fixed technology, while adjusting production takes time.

But continued growth increases demand for oil, sending prices even higher. The alternative to monetary and fiscal expansion is recession, at which point oil prices would stop rising.

Because the oil market is global, with its price in different places virtually identical, the price reflects both total world demand for oil and total supply by all of the oil producing countries.

Despite the oil market s size, speculation can move prices because of the inelasticity of demand and supply. Oil demand is slow to change because of behavioral inertia and fixed technology, while adjusting production takes time.

Rising oil prices are due to the sharp increase in demand by the major consumers, which have not adopted effective policies to reduce their dependency on hydrocarbons.

Given the current turmoil in the Middle East, the loss of Libyan and Yemeni oil, and increasing energy demand in the oil producing countries, any increase in Saudi oil exports, if any, would have a limited impact on the market.

This illustrates a fundamental point in the short run, reduced economic activity is the principle way of lowering oil demand.

Again, higher prices will ration global oil demand, but only after a period of economic pain in some regions around the world.

In the context of a recovering world economy, and given a sustained surge in demand from developing countries, particularly from China, India and countries of Latin America, world demand for oil grew steadily in 2004.

US oil demand has fallen 8 as consumers tighten their belts, and electricity demand in China is down by 10 as energy intensive industries cut production. A smart response to the crisis can perpetuate these trends.

Yet global supplies of oil, natural gas, and coal cannot easily keep up, even with new discoveries.

Oil exporters and China have been accounting for two thirds of global oil demand growth in recent years.

This illustrates a fundamental point in the short run, reduced economic activity is the principle way of lowering oil demand.

So, if oil substitutes are not easily available, modern societies should focus on the sources of demand, most of which is attributable to the transport sector.

A well designed tax on oil would also reduce demand, thereby lowering the potential for windfall profits for those who rule or own the ground over the oil deposits.

Meanwhile, world oil demand increased by 1.2 mb d in 2006 and 937,000 b d in 2007.

But the corresponding decline in demand caused the price of oil to plummet in 1986, ushering in a new era of cheap energy.

Mr. Mansour (Islamic Republic of Iran) said that the representative of Kuwait had rightly pointed to the increase in international demand for energy and reduction in oil refining capacity which had been affected by natural disasters and other elements.

But this economic logic does not apply in the case of increases in oil prices. Although high oil prices look like a tax on business activity that depresses aggregate demand, they also raise inflation, both directly and indirectly.

Importance of biodiesel in South Africa. South Africa is at present highly dependent on imported crude oil for the production of transport fuels and more specifically diesel (71 per cent of South African diesel demand is supplied from crude oil).

Too many factors remain fuzzy the rate of growth of these countries' energy demand, discoveries of new oil reserves, developments in oil saving technology, and the ultimate replacement of oil by other energy sources.

As a result, Europe will remain a net energy importer. And, given rising global demand for oil, particularly in developing countries, energy import prices will remain high.

But the majority of experts agree that the world will not run out of oil anytime soon even with growing Chinese and Indian demand.

Mr. Al Ghanim (Kuwait) said that, regrettably, a number of factors contributing to the rise in oil prices had not been addressed, such as increased demand for energy.

Absent such confidence, Iraq s oil output will not approach its potential, which will only widen the gap between global supply and demand.

If Americans want a future without other Deepwater Horizon style accidents and oil tarred wildlife, they must reduce oil demand, in addition to ensuring that oil production is carried out responsibly and safely.

During this period, world oil demand increased, mostly in developing countries, while production remained relatively flat from 2005 to 2008.

The greater the demand for oil and gas from these regions, the more likely these regions are to seek higher prices, and to maintain them by deferring investment and limiting production.

In the longer term, were shale gas and oil to satisfy US demand, Canadian oil could wean America s allies from their Middle East oil addiction, giving them new foreign policy options, too.

Although high oil prices and a relatively cheap ruble initially drove this growth, since 2003 consumer demand and, more recently, investment have played a significant role.

Strong global demand, owing to emerging economies like China, has undoubtedly fueled some of the price increase.

That means that oil prices have increased in other countries, which should have reduced, not increased, demand.