German Economy and Technology Minister Michael Glos delivers a speech during the celebrations of the 60th anniversary of German postwar currency reform in Berlin, June 12, 2008. The global economy could be under threat if oil prices remain too high for too long, Glos was quoted on Saturday as saying. REUTERS/Tobias Schwarz

BERLIN (Reuters) - The global economy could be under threat if oil prices remain too high for too long, German Economy Minister Michael Glos was quoted on Saturday as saying.

“An excessively high oil price for too long could throw the whole global economy into turmoil,” Glos told newspaper Bild am Sonntag, repeating comments he made last weekend to Reuters. “This would also have an impact on jobs in Germany,” he added in comments due to be published in the paper on Sunday.

Oil prices in the United States reached a record of nearly $140 per barrel last week, and have stayed high since.

Glos is due to hold talks on energy with Saudi officials during a visit to Jeddah next weekend.

At a meeting in Osaka, Japan, finance ministers from the Group of Eight (G8) nations said on Saturday that soaring commodity prices could hit growth. But they shrank from offering a plan to calm markets or quell protests over the cost of fuel and food.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said costly oil could extend a U.S. slowdown, the International Monetary Fund talked of prolonged global economic weakness and European Union Economic Commissioner Joaquin Almunia warned of 1970s-style stagflation.