Shell chief: Oil prices 'higher than expected'

Jeddah: Oil prices have risen higher than expected and there's no immediate solution in sight, the head of Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Europe's largest oil company, said.

The key to bringing prices down is to invest more in the oil industry, Shell Chief Executive Officer Jeroen van der Veer told reporters in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on Sunday/ There's no “silver bullet'' to high oil prices that works overnight, Van der Veer added.

More than 35 countries, seven international organizations and 25 oil companies are taking part in an emergency summit in Jeddah to be chaired by Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah. The meeting will discuss a doubling in oil prices over the last 12 months.

Oil touched a record $139.89 a barrel on June 16, as investors bought commodities to hedge against a weakening U.S. dollar and concern mounted that demand is growing faster than supply. The advent of $4 a gallon gasoline in the US sparked fears the economy may slip into recession. Oil closed June 20 at $135.26 a barrel in New York.

Speaking on Nigeria's Bonga field, Van der Veer said that “it is too early to say'' how much production has been lost due to the closure.

Shell said June 20 it declared so-called force majeure on exports of Bonga crude for the remainder of June and July. Force majeure is a legal clause which allows producers to miss contracted deliveries because of circumstances beyond their control.

The company stopped pumping oil from Bonga on June 19 after militants attacked the production and storage vessel at the deepwater field 120 kilometres (75 miles) off the coast of Nigeria.

Bonga crude shipments were scheduled to average 190,000 barrels a day in June and about 184,000 barrels a day in July, according to loading plans.