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Norway's Central Bank Chief Now Fears the Return of $100 Oil

  • Norges Bank warns crude rally could spike cost inflation
  • Oil lobby chairwoman says companies not about to lose control
Oystein Olsen

Oystein Olsen

Photographer: Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg
Updated on

Talk of a return to $100 oil has the central bank chief of western Europe’s largest petroleum producer worried.

A recovery in the oil price to $80 a barrel has been a boon for the Norwegian economy, helping to narrow a widening budget gap and fueling activity. It even this month triggered the first rate increase in seven years. But the nation’s central bank governor is now warning that too high an oil price could again release undue euphoria in the petroleum industry.