Hi,

I've put together a graph showing the Brent Weekly spot price per barrel in dollar and euro. You can clearly see how the strength of the Euro against the dollar protected us from the worse of the price rises. This raises a question over the European economy's ability to hold up to another rise in oil prices if the dollar strengthens.

Sources for Data:

Brent Weekly Spot Data

http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/dnav/pet/hist/LeafHandler.ashx?n=PET&s=WEPCBRENT&f=W

Dollar-Euro Conversion Rate since 2000

http://www.oanda.com/currency/historical-rates?date_fmt=jp&date=09/12/31&date1=09/01/01&exch=USD&expr=EUR&format=CSV&margin_fixed=0

Comments and corrections welcome.