Brown sees no short-term oil boost

LONDON (Reuters) - Prime Minister Gordon Brown said he expected no short-term output rise from an oil summit in Saudi Arabia later this month, but urged the world to work on a long-term, coordinated energy strategy.

Confirming that he would attend the summit, to be held in Jeddah on June 22, Brown said the meeting was unlikely to result in any production increase, but that did not diminish the need for consumers and producers to tackle the energy crisis.

"The Saudis have now agreed that they will convene a high level meeting in Jeddah a week on Sunday to address these issues. I strongly welcome this initiative," Brown told reporters at his monthly news conference.

"I am not going to Jeddah expecting there is going to be a short-term change in production."

If necessary, he said, Britain would be willing to host a follow-up conference as the prime minister sought to keep Britain at the heart of any solution to the issue.

"I will travel to Jeddah to work on it with King Abdullah. I will propose to the king that if necessary I will be happy to convene a follow-up summit at heads-of-government level in London as a venue."

Brown has repeatedly emphasised the need for a more coordinated response to rising food and energy prices in recent days, saying after a meeting with EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso last week that the 27-nation bloc needed to draw up a joint strategy to tame rising costs.

Brown reiterated that message on Thursday and said he will also raise the issue at a G8 summit in Japan next month.

"World oil prices have trebled, wheat and maize prices have doubled, hitting every country as well as us hard," he said. "For the foreseeable future, people expect growth in demand in food, oil and commodities to outstrip growth in supply."