Gordon Brown clashed with the world’s leading oil producers yesterday when he flew to an emergency meeting in the Middle East to tell them to increase output and invest in renewable energy projects in Britain.

In a 6,000-mile (9,650km) day trip to Jedda, Saudi Arabia, the Prime Minister told oil-exporting nations they had a responsibility to increase production to avoid “uncertainty and unpredictability for years ahead”.

This put him at odds with the head of Opec, which represents 13 oilexporting countries. Chakib Khelil, the Algerian Oil Minister and president of Opec, said that demand for oil was dropping. “We believe that the market is in equilibrium. The price is disconnected from fundamentals. ... Read full article