The head of the International Energy Agency sees the June 22 talks in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia among oil producers and consumers as a chance to "act collectively to reassure the market about future demand and supply balances in order to change the perception of extended tightness."
IEA Executive Director Nobuo Tanaka, who leads the Paris-based energy security watchdog of the wealthiest industrialized nations, said in a statement Thursday that the institution will attend the talks, as "these high prices are not sustainable and jeopardize economic growth globally. The impact is especially acute in developing countries."
Amid public anger over surging fuel prices, which last week hit almost $140 a barrel in New York trading, governments in the U.S., Germany, Italy and elsewhere have begun looking at ways to regulate financial speculation in commodity markets.
The issue is expected to be raised at the oil producer-consumer meeting that Saudi Arabia has called for.
OPEC Secretary General Abdalla Salem el-Badri told Dow Jones Newswires Tuesday that the heads of Goldman Sachs Group (GS) and Morgan Stanley (MS) - among the major players trading in oil futures and energy derivative contracts - would be invited to attend.