Britain calls for increased oil supply
* Oil costs still rising, though
* OPEC cartel says it has no plans to act
Britain Business Secretary John Hutton has urged the world's leading industrialised nations to increase oil production in order to drive prices down.
The price of oil is currently $134 a barrel, which has pushed the prices for goods, including fuel and food, to record highs around the globe.
This week, the so-called Group of Eight (G8) nations are meeting in Japan, with the price of oil at the top of the agenda.
Hutton highlighted Britain's moves to increase oil production in the North Sea and asked other oil-rich nations to do the same.
The discussions follow calls last week by five key energy-consuming nations - the United States, China, Japan, India and South Korea - for oil producers to increase output to try to control the soaring prices.
The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has said no new decision on an oil production increases will be made until its meeting in Vienna in September.
