Alexander Shokhin, the president of the Russian School of Economics, told a news conference that in the next few years, oil prices would surge in the event of natural disasters, such as Hurricane Katrina, which hit the United States last week, causing severe damage to the country's oil infrastructure.
"We should now see the weather as a factor that has a tangible impact on the global economy," Shokhin said.
Speaking of the hurricane's implications for Russia, Shokhin said it had sent oil prices up while at the same time slowing down economic growth in petroleum-consuming countries.
The expert assessed the current situation on world markets as quite favorable for Russia, with the oil prices hovering around $60, and said the price of Russian crude was unlikely to drop below $40 per barrel any time soon.
