Eni wants oil producer/consumer watchdog

By Svetlana Kovalyova and Alberto Sisto

ROME, May 25 (Reuters) - A global oil agency representing all producers and consumers is vitally needed to combat price volatility and ensure that investments keep flowing into the oil sector, chief executive of Italy's oil major Eni said on Monday.

Oil prices bouncing from $50 per barrel to $150 and back within a couple of years hinder investments in the global oil sector needed to ensure adequate supplies once the economy picks up and energy demand resumes growing, Eni's Paolo Scaroni said.

"What is missing is a global oil agency, a kind of watchdog, which will represent all producers and consumers ... and will have instruments necessary to stabilise prices," Scaroni told reporters on the sidelines of a meeting of energy ministers from the Group of Eight industrialised countries.

Such instruments should include global management of spare capacity including remuneration for producers which boost it and the creation of a market where operators could swap bookings of spare capacity, he said.

A special global stabilisation fund should also be created to ensure a minimum revenue level for producers when oil prices are falling.

Scaroni also proposed creating a system of coordinated management of global oil and products stocks aimed to "provide a prompt response in emergency situations."

Scaroni said these proposals, made at the G8 energy meeting in Rome which closes on Monday, and at a recent meeting of OPEC have been greeted with some interest. He said details had yet to be worked out.

Scaroni also said he would welcome an initiative to limit trade in oil derivatives only to energy sector operators to reduce speculative trade.

Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera quoted Russian Energy Minister Sergei Shmatko as urging a rein-in of speculative trade in oil derivatives.

(svetlana.kovalyova@thomsonreuters.com; +39 02 661 29450; Reuters Messaging: svetlana.kovalyova.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))