Japan, US, China Share Concern About Impact of High Oil Prices

Text of report in English by Japan’s largest news agency Kyodo

Aomori, Japan, June 7 Kyodo – Japan on Saturday shared concern about the impact of high crude oil prices with the United States and China, Japanese officials said.

Akira Amari, minister of economy, trade and industry, held separate bilateral meetings with US Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman and Zhang Guobao, vice chairman of China’s National Development and Reform Commission, in the northeastern Japanese city of Aomori.

The meetings were held prior to this weekend’s ministerial meetings of the Group of Eight countries plus China, India and South Korea.

In their talks, the three shared the view that increasing oil production capacity is particularly important for stabilizing the market, the officials said.

But they did not go into specific details about what must be done, the officials added.

On Friday, crude oil prices recorded the largest-ever single-day gain of more than $10 and surpassed $139 per barrel for the first time in New York.

Originally published by Kyodo News Service, Tokyo, in English 0553 7 Jun 08.

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