"We have gone from $20 to $77, so if we were to go to $90, and people are saying that then all hell is going to break loose, I really doubt it."
The governor of Australia's central bank, Ian Macfarlane said in an interview with the Financial Times. He was referring to recent price hikes and also said that the world economy can cope with oil prices of more than $80/barrel without facing serious inflationary problems.
"People are keeping this quiet and just getting on with it because there is an awful risk that the outside world will overreact. They don't want to broadcast it because the reaction can get out of control."
Richard Pike, head of the Royal Society of Chemistry and consultant to a number of global oil and gas companies told The Times newspaper Friday. He said that some of the world's biggest oil fields had reduced output or had been shut down recently so that corroded pipelines could be repaired before they leaked.