The current oil price seems to rise with the wind, exceeding US$55 per barrel many times recently, higher than the average price in the past five years. From last winter to this spring, many European and American places have been hit by snowstorms, recently, the locals fear that a cold wave would come, so oil price continues to soar. While the supply of crude oil can hardly have a considerable increase, the hoarding and speculative activities are especially active, this has aggravated the shortage of crude oil on the international market.

As one of the most widely used energy resources, oil is indispensable to modern production and people��s livelihood. Therefore, unstable oil price is disadvantageous whether to oil producers or oil consumers. Currently, the international community has divergent views on the status quo and development trend of oil price. The United States, the world��s No.1 oil consumer, warns: high oil price would bring oil-exporting countries short-term benefits, but eventually it would harm the world economy. OPEC (Organization of Petroleum Export Countries) called for stabilizing the supply of crude oil, expressing the hope that oil price would stay at US$40 -US$50 per barrel. Some African oil-producing countries also prefer to keep oil price at around US$45-US$55, whereas Venezuela, a Latin American oil-producer, deems it reasonable for oil price to stand at above US$50 per barrel. As their interests and approaches are different, their stands and views are varied.

As a matter of fact, behind the disputes over oil price, there are economic benefits, political consideration and other factors that are acting their roles. In the late 19th century and early 20th century, imperialists and colonialists were engaged in unbridled plunder of global resources, as evidenced by the long-term ultra-low oil price.

The national liberation movements that swept Asia, Africa and Latin America after WWII accelerated the process of the nationalization of the resources and facilities of oil-producing countries, the low oil price age has henceforth become a thing of the past. If the united domination of oil price by oil producers was liquidation and reprisal against colonialism, then in the 1970s, Arab countries' use of the oil weapon against the Western countries that supported Israel during the Arab-Israeli war was a vivid expression of the political role and military value of oil.

On the other hand, due to the dual attributes of the irreplaceability and irrenewability of oil resources, big oil consumers try hard to exert multi-faceted influence on oil supply and the oil price system. So the dependence and restriction between the supply and demand of oil can thus be seen. It is without doubt that the supply-demand relations on the international crude oil market determine the long-term trend of oil price, although speculative activities can also affect oil price, they can only produce short-term effect. Owing to the continuation of unfair international political and economic order, as well as the double standards pursued by the United States in the international anti-terror field, there are many hidden worries about the security situation in the world's major oil-producing regions. The existence and interacting roles of these complicated factors also constitute a lever affecting oil price.

It can be predicted that in the future there will be more changes of events in the international oil market. Grim challenges seem to have appeared: After the dawn of the 21st century, countries, be they developed or developing, will have to endure high oil price and the many problems it brings about.

By People's Daily Online