G8 energy leaders press for oil price stability

By Rania El Gamal and Silvia Aloisi

ROME (Reuters) - Energy leaders on Sunday debated what oil price would spur investment in the sector without hurting a wider global economic recovery, as top producer Saudi Arabia forecast prices eventually moving towards $75 a barrel.

The Group of Eight energy ministers are meeting in Rome against the backdrop of a price rally that has sent oil to a six-month high, prompting key players like the United States to implore OPEC to keep their focus on price stability.

Saudi Arabia, the biggest and most influential of the 12-member producer group, said OPEC would "probably stay the course" when it meets in Vienna on Thursday, and offered the prospect of an eventual rise in demand and prices.

"Demand will pick up eventually when the economy recovers," Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi told reporters, declining to speculate on when that might happen.

He also declined to predict when prices would reach the $75 level that producers say is needed to encourage investment in new production for the long term.

"Eventually could be tomorrow or it could be ten years from now, but eventually its going to happen, but when I don't (know)," Naimi said.

The International Energy Agency has said investment in oil and gas production will fall 21 percent in 2009 due to the financial crisis and ensuing economic slump.

Italian oil company Eni's president, Roberto Poli, said the "magic range" for oil prices high enough to spur investment without hurting the economy was $60-$70 per barrel, while Edison chief executive Umberto Quadrino put that range at $60-$80 per barrel.