Global crude oil prices on Thursday crossed another important level of $145 a barrel to touch a life-time peak of $146.34 a barrel in the August oil futures trade.
At the current oil prices, India?s oil import is expected to shoot up by 75% this fiscal to $110-120 billion from $68 billion in 2007-08. ?It will go up even more if the prices rise further,? petroleum secretary MS Srinivasan said.
Speaking on the implications of this upsurge on the Indian economy,the Deputy Planning Commission chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia said the country?s economic growth could slow down to 8% in the face of high crude prices and inflation. The nation should be ready for a ?high oil price regime? because of the continuous surge in global crude prices, he said.
The latest surge followed a warning from Iranian oil minister Gholam Hossein Nozari that his country, a key crude producer, would react fiercely to any attack against it.