§ Mr. Jim CunninghamTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what recent discussions the Government has had with oil producers on reducing the price of petrol. [174844]
§ Mr. TimmsInternational oil prices are one of a number of factors that influence the price of petrol.
Other Ministers, officials and myself meet bilaterally and multilaterally with representatives of oil producing nations on a regular basis as part of our ongoing dialogue with oil and gas producing countries. For example, I led a UK delegation to the International Energy Forum in Amsterdam, 22–24 May 2004, for informal discussions between producing and consuming nations on a wide range of energy issues.
At the recent IMF meeting we joined other countries in expressing our concern at the high level of the oil price as one of the risks to the world recovery. There are a number of factors underlying the current high price but we are urging oil producers to increase production to help reduce the price to a more sustainable level.