Possible expansion in the Japanese economy, showing its most positive signs of recovery in a decade, and the sluggish eurozone could also offer some support for global momentum.
Koen Vincent, senior economist at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, believes the surge in oil prices in 2005 was "comparable to the shocks of the 1970s and early 80s" and that has left the world economy facing up to an "apparently permanently higher level of energy prices."
While it is still too early to say higher inflation will not materialize in 2006, the 40 percent increase in oil prices over 2005 was not the catastrophe some had expected.
Vincent said heightened competition and the lower oil dependency of developed economies were two of the main reasons for the absence of inflation in 2005.
Last year's price spike was driven by higher demand, rather than sudden risk to supply, as was the case for the previous two oil shocks.
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