HIGH OIL RATES NOT JUSTIFIED
He said he would not be surprised if EU finance ministers discussed the topic at an informal gathering on September 10-11 even as Italy said it might propose cuts in excise duties on oil at that meeting if international oil prices stayed high.
According to him, "the fundamentals of the market for oil are not justifying these prices," Almunia said on the same day that the price of U.S. light crude hit record peaks above $49 a barrel.
"It is not a positive thing to have an increase in oil prices".
Italy, the euro zone's third biggest economy, is worried enough to consider suggesting action to EU finance ministers.
"I think that at Ecofin on September 11, if things remain the way they are today, we should make a proposal on taxes for our country," Gianluigi Magri, undersecretary of the Italian Treasury, tsaid in Rome.
Magri said the proposal would be along the lines put forward by Italian Industry Ministry Antonio Marzano, who has called for excise duties to be cut when global prices were high and increased when they were low.
Marzano has said the proposal would keep domestic petrol costs steady despite fluctuations in international oil prices.
Excise duties are currently tied to the quantity of oil consumed rather than the price.
Higher energy costs leave households with less to spend on other things and boost operating costs for firms that use oil.
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