Group of Seven Frets About Oil, China By Chisa Fujioka WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Finance chiefs from the Group of Seven economic powers met on Saturday to discuss two of the global economic concerns over which they have least control -- high oil prices and China's fixed currency peg. Increasingly aware of the group's ebbing influence amid shifting world economic power toward developing giants such as China, India, Brazil and Russia, many G7 officials said the world may simply have to adapt to higher oil prices. The United States, meanwhile, lobbied G7 members to urge China to allow its currency to rise against the dollar -- ratcheting up pressure on Beijing as the White House seeks answers for critics at home who say the administration has been too soft on what they see as an effective export subsidy. Meeting in Washington for the second of four yearly meetings and against a backdrop of increasingly jittery financial markets, the finance ministers and central bank governors are due to release a statement about 11 a.m. EDT. The G7 is made up of the United States, Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Japan. Record oil prices, which have risen about 50 percent over the past 12 months, and China's rigid currency peg to the dollar are frequently cited as two of the biggest risks to world economic stability. U.S. Treasury Secretary John Snow said on Friday the G7 was preparing for an era of more costly energy and could handle recent increases that have pushed prices over $58 a barrel. Another G7 official said: "Concern is growing because it seems the higher prices may not be out of line and are more permanent than was thought." "We have to prepare the world to live with oil prices at these levels," the official added. With crude demand from the rapidly industrializing developing world one of the drivers of higher energy costs and oil producing nations already close to full production, the G7 may look at ways of simply mitigating the impact. The need for better data on crude production and stockpiles is likely to be re-emphasized, officials said, along with an increased focus on conservation, alternative energy sources and improvements in industrial productivity.     Continued ... Quelle "Group of Seven Frets About Oil, China" : reuters.com Main page for "Group of Seven Frets About Oil, China"