Thai official:Shot Russian jet affects oil prices

BANGKOK, November 25 (TNA) - A senior Thai official has expressed concerns that world crude oil prices have made their new high in two weeks, following ongoing tension in the Middle East. Twarath Sutabutr, Director-General of the Energy Policy and Planning Office (EPPO), under the Thai Ministry of Energy, told journalists on Wednesday that his agency is worried over the soaring crude oil prices, following a crash of the Russian bomber jet near the Syrian border after it was shot by Turkey on November 24. The shooting resulted in the severest conflict in 50 years between the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), in which Turkey is a member country, and Russia, as Turkey has insisted that the Russian warplane has ignored its repeated warnings that it was intruding into the Turkish airspace. Tuesday's incident caused the crude prices to rise on the global market, with the US West Texas Intermediate oil price increasing by 1.12 US dollars a barrel to 42.87 US dollars a barrel. Twarath said if the conflict grows violent, the Dubai crude price in the fourth quarter can exceed the price range of 40-50 US dollars that his office earlier estimated, but if the incident slows down the global economy, the crude price may fall to about 30 US dollars a barrel. (TNA)