‘$100 Oil can hurt global economy’

Crude oil prices over $100 a barrel will cause as much damage to the global economy as the record prices of $147 a barrel in 2008, which preceded the global financial crisis, Nobuo Tanaka, former executive director for the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Monday.

Crude oil prices over $100 a barrel will cause as much damage to the global economy as the record prices of $147 a barrel in 2008, which preceded the global financial crisis, Nobuo Tanaka, former executive director for the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Monday.

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“If oil continues at $100 this year, it will be as bad as 2008,” Tanaka said at Singapore International Energy Week.

Tanaka said he would expect crude oil prices to range between $70 and $80 per barrel in the longer term as a higher $100 per barrel oil price would derail the global economy with pressure on energy costs. He added that crude prices at over $100 would cut global oil demand by around 1 million barrels per day (bpd).

(The writer’s travel and stay were sponsored by the Energy Market Authority of Singapore