0659 GMT - Oil prices could stay higher than prewar levels as energy firms and governments rebuild their inventories, European Central Bank Chief Economist Philip Lane says. Brent crude prices have fallen back to prewar levels in the last week. But demand for oil for restocking purposes could keep the oil price elevated and push inflation higher, Lane told Bloomberg on the sidelines of the ECB's forum at Sintra, Portugal. "From our point of view, it's very welcome that we see this decline in the price of oil. But in terms of the overall inflation impulse, the fact that we do have, maybe for a couple of years, oil prices above the prewar level, that essentially is a cost increasing impulse to the economy," he says. (edward.frankl@wsj.com)
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
June 30, 2026 02:59 ET (06:59 GMT)
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