Oil prices have jumped 25 per cent in the past three months to reach US$127 (US$1 = RM3.03) a barrel on Monday, their highest in over two-and-a-half years, restarting a long rally driven in part by strong demand from rapidly growing emerging economies.
But the monthly report from the International Energy Agency (IEA) pointed to an easing in upward demand. It said there are "real risks" that oil priced above US$100 a barrel for a sustained period "will prove incompatible with the currently expected pace of economic recovery".
The International Monetary Fund similarly had warned on Monday that high oil prices pose a risk to the solid global recovery.