China (Platts) -- April 21-25, 2008

By reporters at Platts, the energy information division of the McGraw-Hill Companies. For more information about Platts' information products in China, contact Platts at china@platts.com, or call its representative office in Guangzhou at (+86) 20 2881 6588.

The global debate over how to handle soaring energy prices -- and particularly runaway oil prices -- has reached a stalemate.

Last week, the world's energy consumers told leading oil powers gathered in Rome that, without a shadow of a doubt, oil prices were damagingly high.

Oil producers maintained that no amount of additional oil would reverse an unprecedented price rally in a market dominated in their view by speculators and other factors beyond their control.

The response in the oil futures markets? Daily record highs for almost all oil products. It seems that without a watershed development in the uninspired debate between consumers and suppliers of oil, there is no major signal to the market that a reversal of direction is likely any time soon.

"With oil recently touching $117 a barrel, I feel obliged to start with a few comments on the oil price," International Energy Agency chief Nobuo Tanaka said in his keynote address in Rome last week. "Let me be clear, the IEA views current prices as too high for everybody, especially for developing countries who face other significant cost increases."

Within days, the oil futures were touching $120 per barrel in unsympathetic markets. Strikes -- and plenty of them -- were the hallmark of last week, and they served up another round of jitters and nerves to the oil markets.

By the close of the week, light sweet crude oil settled at $118.52 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, a gain of 1.5% on the week that left prices up 19% for the year so far and 80% higher than this time last year.

Brent closed at $116.34 on ICE Futures, with similar performance statistics to WTI.

Heating oil and gasoil, the darlings of the bull market so far this year after a winter that brought surprisingly strong demand in the middle of a mild winter, both ended last week higher.

European gasoil, in particular, closed strongly, up 3.3% at a stunning $1,085.75/mt.

Gasoline and natural gas also put in strong performances in western futures markets, meaning that the entire energy complex moved up several notches in a broad-based rally.

Updated: April 28, 2008]