New Delhi: Oil producing nations are exploiting oil consuming countries with high oil prices. Consequently, India is being deprived of at least one percent of its economic growth because of the surge in global crude oil prices, which is mostly for speculative purposes, P Chidambaram finance minister.

"India could certainly have achieved 9 per cent to 9.5 per cent growth...It has been robbed of at least one percent of growth due to surge in oil prices," Chidambaram said in the Economic Summit.

Chidambarm said that speculation was driving oil prices, as prices had fallen from near $80 a barrel to $58 when there had been no change in demand and little change in supply.

India imports 70 percent of its oil. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) says every $10 rise in average global oil prices over a one-year period hurts Asia's economic growth by 0.6 percentage points.

"The world must come to terms with the fact that oil producing countries are exploiting the requirement of oil consuming countries," Chidambaram observed. " India's being robbed of at least 1 per cent of growth because of high oil prices."

Citing the example of Russia, Chidambaram said the country's budget was based on oil prices of $45 a barrel, but when oil price spiraled to $78 a barrel, the economy had a windfall.