London, 14 June 2011

The world is heading for a fresh oil price spike before collapsing into a crisis, a prominent fund manager told Reuters on Monday, adding that China's unquenchable thirst for natural resources could lead to rising tensions. Peter Csoregh, senior portfolio manager of Robeco's Natural Resource equities fund, told Reuters that oil prices could hit previous peaks of $147 a barrel given that growing demand from developing markets such as China continues to outpace new sources of supply.

At the end of the first quarter 2011 the assets under management for Robeco were at EUR 150 billion, with the Natural Resource equities fund comprising some 100 million euros ($143.8 million).

Csoregh warned that tensions were likely to erupt as China vies with the West for natural resources to support its growth rate as the government tries to stave off social unrest.

"Can they (China) double from here, can they triple from here? Sure they can. Is there enough oil or copper in the world to allow them to do that? No," he said.

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The full text of the story is on Reuters.com at:

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/06/13/us-energy-summit-robeco-idUSTRE75C4K020110613