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High oil prices are the biggest risk to the global economy and may cause a recession, the Financial Times quoted International Energy Agency chief economist Fatih Birol as saying. Current price levels are on average higher than in 2008 when the oil price hit a record of $147 a barrel, Birol said yesterday in a speech in London, according to the newspaper. The European Union will spend $502 billion on net imports of oil this year, the U.S. $426 billion and China $251 billion, according to the newspaper.
