U.S. Did Not Call for Releases of Strategic Petroleum Reserves at G-20 Meeting: Sources

The United States did not openly call for a release of countries' strategic petroleum reserves during Group of 20 meetings this weekend, G-20 sources said on Saturday.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said on Friday the United States is considering a release from its own Strategic Petroleum Reserve as rising tensions between Iran and the West over its disputed nuclear program have fueled a rise in crude-oil prices.

At a G-20 meeting of central-bank governors and finance ministers on Saturday, two people familiar with the discussion said officials had discussed the risk to the world economy from oil prices, which rose above $125 a barrel on Friday, but the United States did not push for a release of strategic reserves.

Countries hold oil reserves as a buffer against sudden drops in supply.

A draft communique for the G-20 meeting, which is still under discussion, said high oil prices were a risk to the global economy, the sources said, although the outlook was cautiously optimistic.

The communique says that there are some positive signs in the global economy, coming especially from the U.S. economy, but they are tentative, one G-20 official said.

(Reporting by Francesca Landini and Dave Graham; Writing by Krista Hughes)