Ministers seek ways to handle oil prices

Ministers seek ways to handle oil prices

MANCHESTER, England: EU finance ministers will debate measures
on Saturday to deal with soaring oil prices and their effect on
fragile economic growth.

The Czech government wants to get more oil flowing and has
said it will urge the EU to pressure the Organization of
Petroleum Exporting Countries to increase oil production. OPEC,
which next meets Sept. 19, has said its production surpasses
demand, and that will eventually bring down prices.

On Friday, ministers warned that oil prices will eat into
euro-zone growth this year, but said the region has become more
resilient to such shocks and leaders agreed that unilateral
energy tax cuts were not a solution.

Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker said high oil
prices will cut euro-zone growth to 1.1 percent to 1.3 percent
this year, well down from the European Commission's previous
forecast of 1.6 percent.

Juncker said the growth estimate was based on average oil
prices around US$67 a barrel in the fourth quarter of 2005 and in
2006. Oil was trading around $65 a barrel on Friday, down from
its high above $70 a barrel but almost 50 percent higher than a
year ago. -- AP