GORDON BROWN and fellow finance ministers from the Group of Seven (G7) leading economies last night stepped up pressure on the Opec oil cartel to boost production as crude prices surged to new records, breaching the $75-a-barrel barrier in US trading.

Amid fears that British motorists could soon face petrol prices of more than £1 a litre at the pumps, the Chancellor joined with the G7 to press Opec to raise its output quotas at the cartel’s impending June 1 meeting in an attempt to rein in the soaring cost of oil.

After G7 talks in Washington, Mr Brown and other ministers also underlined their mounting concerns last night to representatives of three of the leading oil producers, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Russia, over dinner in the US capital.

Earlier yesterday, Mr Brown said: “There is no doubt that, while some progress has been made, there is more to be done.”

The moves came as US light crude prices leapt last night to a record high of $75.17 a barrel, up $1.48, or 2 per cent, on the day, fuelled by fears of a possible supply disruptions in Iran and low US petrol stocks.

Earlier, US light crude oil prices set an intraday high of $75.35 a barrel, leaving the cost of crude for delivery one month ahead up by 8.4 per cent on the week. In London, Brent crude rose to $74.57, gaining $1.39, or 1.9 per cent, on the day.

Past oil price gains have already pushed the average price of a litre of unleaded petrol to 95.25p, less than 1p off the record of 96.06p, the AA said.

Mr Brown said a commitment to additional investment was needed “both in oil and refining capacity”. He said: “There is no doubt that there is still a major refining capacity problem that has got to be dealt with, and so I and the G7 will call for higher investment.”

Despite the G7 pressure, several Opec ministers have said that there is little more that the cartel can do to bring down high prices because it is pumping at near full capacity.

In a pre-emptive rebuff to the G7 yesterday, Chakib Khelil, Algeria’s Oil Minister, said: “Opec can deal with issues it can control, but . . . we can’t do anything about the politics in the world.” He said that oil markets were well-supplied and crude stocks were high, and so any action to increase output would be only a gesture.

FREEDOM CALL

• Gordon Brown backed IMF warnings on protectionism by saying: “Beggar-thy-neighbour policies, a return to the . . . solutions of the 1930s . . . would be the worst possible outcome in a period of global economic change. We have got to have open markets, free trade, and build on that.”

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