Oil price surges to 9-yr high

Asia consumes around 19 million bpd of crude but needs to import around 12 million bpd, making it vulnerable to oil price rises. That means a rise in crude prices is a negative for the economy, although producers like Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam and Australia stand tobenefit.

Indian petroleum minister Ram Naik said on Wednesday he expected India’s import bill for oil to balloon out to Rs 54,000 crore ($12.4 billion) in the year to the end of March, compared with an import bill of Rs 24,000 crore in the previous year.

India, which consumes about 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude, most of which is imported, was also considering raising the domestic diesel price again, the minister said. A decision would be made by the end of November.

In October, India raised domestic diesel prices 40 per cent, sparking a nationwide strike among transport workers. Japan, which represents a quarter of Asia’s oil consumption, said on Thursday the surge in crude oil prices would have an adverse impact on the nation’s industry.

"We are basically concerned over the situation. If crude oil prices continue their giddy climb, that would not be desirable," an official of the ministry of International Trade and Industry said.