Oil-price volatility brings together producers and consumers

Wild swings in the price of oil in 2008 and 2009 have nudged the debate between oil producers and consumers forward, but the sides remain fundamentally apart on the main issue

The International Energy Forum (IEF), a biannual summit of oil producing and consuming nations, has often been a dialogue of the deaf, with the two sides talking past each other. But this year's meeting in Cancun, Mexico, has yielded a joint statement for the first time. There has been no great change in positions: producers are still calling on consumers to let them earn enough money to support their budgets and pay for costly investments in new upstream capacity; consumers remain concerned that spendthrift producing nations are failing to keep pace with rising oil demand. And while the world's main oil producers have been pushing for consumers to accept a fair oil price of $70-80 a barrel.