If the price of crude oil does not return to around $65 per barrel, it will subtract tenths from the GDP and delay the moderation of price increases. Just a few days after the Bank of Spain and BBVA's research department in Spain presented their macroeconomic projections - which lowered their growth forecast for the country to 2.

A sustained surge in oil prices is likely to complicate the U.S. fight against inflation. A $10-a-barrel increase would boost year-over-year growth in the Consumer Price Index by 0.5 percentage points,