High oil prices to push up household costs by 30,000 yen

Households in Japan will see their expenses rise by 30,000 yen a year if oil prices stay at their current high levels, the head of a Japanese oil industry group said Wednesday.

If oil prices remain at around $36 a barrel, their highest level since the 1990 Persian Gulf crisis, households will be hit by higher gasoline and kerosene costs, Keiichiro Okabe, president of the Petroleum Association of Japan, told a news conference.

http://home.kyodo.co.jp/cgi-bin/m_conciseStory/#20000920192

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), September 20, 2000