(BRUSSELS) - EU finance ministers agreed Tuesday to publish weekly oil inventories data in an effort to bring more transparency to the market, the European Union's French presidency said.

"We now have political agreement on improving transparency on oil stocks," French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde told journalists after chairing a meeting with EU counterparts.

"We have a political agreement that we publish weekly these statistics on oil stocks," she added.

The responsibility for working out the feasibility of gathering and releasing the data now falls on the European Commission, which will then make formal proposals.

The United States, Japan and South Korea already publish oil products inventories data and France has championed the idea of doing so in Europe in order to shed greater light on the forces affecting the oil market.

Crude oil prices have soared in recent weeks to record highs over 140 dollars a barrel, leaving governments struggling worldwide to find ways of bringing relief to consumers and businesses.

Record oil prices have been in part blamed on a lack of transparency in the oil market.

The idea of publishing oil stocks data first came up in September 2005 but has only recently found support from among all EU member states as oil prices reached ever higher records.

Although member states have warmed to the idea, EU Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs remains concerned that it could increase volatility in already jittery markets, according to an EU official speaking on condition of anonymity.

Meeting of EU Economic and Financial Affairs Council (ECOFIN)

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