Tehran Times Economic Desk

------------------ Russia says oil overvalued, price spike temporary
Russia, the world’s second biggest oil exporter, believes that oil is significantly overvalued and recent rises to new record highs will be temporary.
“Oil prices are at a speculative level and are being heated up by a host of conflicts in oil producing regions,” Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin, in Washington for the International Monetary Fund and World Bank autumn meetings, told AFP. “Experts say it is significantly overvalued, so I think that such a spike in prices is temporary,” Kudrin added.
------------------ Korea’s government resisting demand to cut taxes amid oil hikes
Despite the pressure to cut taxes, the Korean government said that solutions should be sought on the demand side by curbing oil consumption instead of cutting taxes. “With carbon emissions emerging as a global problem, it isn’t right to lower oil taxes,” said Finance and Economy Minister Kwon O-kyu.
Concerns over international oil price hikes are growing, as Korea is heavily dependent on imported oil. But while voices are getting louder calling for taxes on oil to be cut to ease the oil price shock on the economy, the government is still negative, KoreaTimes reported.
------------------- Global reliance on oil becoming expensive
The global economy’s reliance on oil is leading to discussion on what will happen when it either runs out or becomes too expensive.
From crude oil comes various products such as petroleum, diesel, fuel oils, plastics and liquefied petroleum gas. According to Bloomberg, the price of oil could stunt Asia’s growth and stoke inflation.