Can the World Survive a US Downturn?
Record-breaking oil prices have sparked widespread international concern among consumer nations amid predictions that they could rise perhaps as high as $200 per barrel. World oil traded only a little below $122 per barrel on Wednesday after concerns over supply in key producer Nigeria helped push prices to record highs in frenzied trading, dealers said. Kuwaiti Oil Minister Mohammad al-Olaim last week said the Organization of Petroleum-Exporting Countries (OPEC) may hold an extraordinary meeting on oil prices before a scheduled conference in September, and did not appear to rule out higher...
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photo: AP / Eckehard Schulz
