By RIA Novosti,
Moscow : Energy ministers from the G8 countries, plus officials from China, South Korea and India, are holding a two-day meeting in the Japanese city of Aomori amid unprecedented hikes in oil prices.
The Russian delegation will be led by Energy Minister Sergei Shmatko.
The meeting comes as crude in New York gained almost $11 – its biggest-ever one-day rise. The price of oil now stands at around $139 a barrel and some experts have said it could reach $150 a barrel by July as political tensions in the Middle East rise and demand shows no sign of slowing.
The benchmark light, sweet crude oil is now twice as expensive as it was this time last year.
The event will begin on Saturday with a meeting between U.S. Energy Secretary Sam Bodman and officials from Japan, China, India and South Korea, which between them consume half the world’s oil, to discuss energy security and alternative sources of energy.
The G8 ministerial meeting is scheduled for Sunday. The International Energy Agency is also expected to deliver its Energy Technology Perspectives report, proposing measures to simultaneously cut harmful emissions and meet global energy demand.