PROPOSED OIL CONSUMPTION TAXES WORRY PRODUCERS IN MIDDLE EAST

Proposed levies on oil consumption in the U.S. and Europe cause furrowed brows among Middle East oil producers, who fret over huge capital needs to add productive capacity. Producers say the tax plans threaten the still hazy goal of producer-consumer cooperation. Their concerns surfaced last week in Dubai at the Middle East Petroleum and Gas Conference. Fereidun Fesharaki, director of the East-West Center's program on resources and chairman of the conference, said the meeting was the first