‘Price Likely to Hit $250 a Barrel’

DEAUVILLE, France, 11 June 2008 — The price of oil is likely to hit $250 a barrel, Alexei Miller, head of Russian energy giant Gazprom, warned here yesterday, without saying when the surge would come. “Today we are witnessing a critical increase in the price of hydrocarbons,” Miller told journalists during a meeting of the European Business Congress.

“Now the price is going to reach a level never-before-seen. The perspective will be $250 per barrel of oil and the competition for this resource will be strong.”

Miller said that while speculation had played a role in oil prices, “this influence was not decisive.” Yesterday, New York’s main oil futures contract, light sweet crude for July delivery, dipped 41 cents to $133.94 a barrel, after losing more than $4 in value on Monday. Brent North Sea crude for July delivery lost 66 cents to $133.25.