Amid demands from oil consumers across the world, Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah announced on Sunday that his country had increased its output to 9.7 million barrels a day and could do more if necessary.

Jeddah: Two days after inflation figures threw up a 13-year high of 11.05%, largely attributed to the hike in fuel prices, finance minister P Chidambaram cautioned oil producers that they would also suffer in case the global economy slows down or slips into recession due to high oil prices. India, he said, had passed on barely 9% of the required price increase to customers three weeks ago and the result was that inflation crossed 11%. Even oil producing countries like Indonesia, Russia, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela face double digit inflation up to 29.3%.

ENERGY SUMMIT Calls for price band mechanism, action against oil speculation JEDDAH : Smarting under oil-inspired runaway inflation, India today asked oil producing nations not to remain a "passive spectator of speculation' and called for adopting a "price band mechanism' to cool down prices. Finance Minister P Chidambaram, addressing the meeting of Energy Ministers in Jeddah, warned that the present situation would eventually hurt all. He said he was speaking with "great anguish' because India's goals were in "grave peril'.

The Rs 31,000-crore refinery and petrochemical plant being planned by Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) in Kakinada in Andhra Pradesh is likely to have a new partner

If the impending taxi strike was not enough, here comes another strike, which is set to hit both commuters and car owners hard. The West Bengal Petroleum Dealers Association has called a three-day strike in all the 2,000 odd petrol pumps in the state and the city from 30 June onwards in protest against the alleged "forcible supply' of costly branded fuels by an oil Public Sector Undertaking (PSU).

HOSPITALS, hotels, malls, cinema halls and other commercial establishments will not be able to avail subsidised diesel anymore. They have to buy costlier premium (or branded) diesel. Public sector oil companies IOC, BPCL and HPCL plan to stop supply of subsidised diesel to commercial establishments. Retail price of branded diesel, which is currently about Rs 2.25/litre higher than normal diesel, is not regulated by the government and its price could be substantially raised, depending on the demand.

BLEAK FUTURE: Plastic products on display at a shop. Plastics have perhaps the widest possible application in day-to-day life. When international crude prices zoom and the prices of petroleum products get revised, little do people realise that dozens of other smaller and much bigger products also get affected. All of them are made from petrochemical products and the price rise hits them too.

After the slowdown in American economy prices of crude oil have shown drastic swing. On Saturday the prices of crude oil reached up to 139 per barrel in New York. In the matter of oil consumption the five premier nations America, Japan, China, India and South Korea have expressed serious concern on record price rise of oil. In the conference of these countries in Aomori(Japan), the ministers of these countries told in a joint statement that drastic increase in oil prices has not only affected the importers of oil, but the producers and exporting countries also.

Left, RJD, NDA Condemn Hike; Govt Too Will Tighten Belt If you drive 36km daily

The government has been deliberating on measures over oil prices through the last fortnight. Meanwhile, the companies' losses rose from Rs 16.34 a litre to Rs 21.43 on each litre of petrol, Rs 23.47 to Rs 31.58 on diesel, Rs 28.72 to Rs 35.98 on kerosene and Rs 305.90 to Rs 352.90 per 14.2-kg cylinder of cooking gas. Together, the three firms are losing Rs 725 crore daily on fuel sales, up from Rs 580 crore.