Oil Price May Rise To US$70-US$80 Per Barrel In Medium Term, Says ENOC

KUALA LUMPUR, June 11 (Bernama) -- Oil prices may skyrocket to US$70-US$80 per barrel in the medium term if countries do not stop the continued increase in consumption, an official of the Emirates National Oil Co Ltd said today.Hussain Sultan, ENOC's group chief executive, said that as a result, "world economies will once again seriously have to do their sums again" as the "world is not very comfortable with oil being at around US$60-US$70 per barrel."With the Organisation of Oil Exporting Countries (OPEC) facing a decline in production capacities, the world cannot afford to keep consuming oil at increasing levels, he said in his paper on "Changing Horizons of Oil - the ENOC Experience" at the 12th Asia Oil and Gas Conference 2007 here.He said that Goldman Sachs' prediction two years ago that prices would soon touch US$100 per barrel did not come true mainly because under the present conditions, "that level is not sustainable."He also expressed concern with the rapid expansion in the economies of China and India where between them, the world will need an additional five million barrels per day by 2010 over today's consumption.