The price of crude oil is at an all-time high at $117 per barrel.

Major players in the global energy industry are meeting in Rome at the 11th International Energy Forum to discuss rising oil prices, currently at a record level of $117 (£59) a barrel.

Around 500 delegates – including ministers, representatives and observers of international institutions and managers of the biggest international companies of the sector – are gathering from 20-22 April.

They will discuss the availability of energy resources, the matter of infrastructural investments, recipes for a sustainable future, security of supplies and the dialogue between producer and consumer countries.

Speaking at the start of the biannual conference on Sunday (20 April), Abdullah el al-Badri, Secretary General of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), said that factors other than supply and demand, particularly the weakness of the US dollar, were pushing oil prices higher.

Many analysts expect oil to rise above $120 a barrel by the summer. Every $2 increase in the cost of oil adds about 1p to a litre of petrol at the pump in Britain.

OPEC officials refuse to release more oil in the wake of record prices and insist the world is amply supplied. OPEC President Chakib Khelil has said there is no need for an immediate increase in crude production because there is a balance between supply and demand.

Oil giant Royal Dutch Shell’s pipeline in Nigeria’s unstable Niger Delta region was attacked by militants on Friday, and a Japanese oil tanker has also been attacked in Middle Eastern waters, off the east coast of Yemen; the news of both attacks have helped to push crude oil futures higher into record territory.