FINANCIAL TIMES – 28/05/09

This article highlights an announcement by the US secretary of energy, Steven Chu, arguing that it is not politically feasible for the US to reduce its reliance on oil by raising petrol prices to Europe’s levels through higher taxes or regulation. The announcement comes as global oil prices have reached their highest level this year, at $63.82 a barrel. Mr Chi did, however, stress that Americans will have to learn to live with higher petrol prices even without additional taxation, as the global prices of oil and natural gas are both likely to go up in the coming decades, simply because of fundamental supply and demand issues. Read the article…