in the aftermath of the oil embargo of 1973. during that period, posted crude oil prices at ras tanura rose to more than $ 11 per barrel, significantly above the $ 1. 80 per barrel that had been unchanged from 1961 to 1970. the sharp price increases of the early 1970s brought to an abrupt end the extraordinary period of growth in u. s. oil consumption and the increased intensity of its use that was so evident in the decades immediately following world war ii. between 1945 and 1973, consumption of oil products rose at a startling 4 - 1 / 2 percent average annual rate, well in excess of growth of real gross domestic product. however, since 1973, oil consumption has grown, on average, only 1 / 2 percent per year, far short of the rise in real gdp. although opec production quotas have been a significant factor in price determination for a third of a century, the story since 1973 has been as much one of the power of markets as of power over markets. the signals provided by market prices have eventually resolved even the most seemingly insurmountable difficulties of inadequate domestic supply in the united states. the gap projected between supply and demand in the immediate post - 1973 period was feared by many to be so large that rationing would be the only practical solution. but the resolution did not occur quite that way. to be sure, mandated fuel - efficiency standards for cars and light trucks accompanied slower growth of gasoline demand. some observers argue, however, that, even without government - enforced standards, market forces would have produced increased fuel efficiency. indeed, the number of small, fuel - efficient japanese cars that were imported into the united states markets grew significantly in the late 1970s after the iranian revolution drove up crude oil prices to nearly $ 40 per barrel. moreover, at that time, prices were expected to go still higher. projections of $ 50 per barrel or more were widely prevalent. our department of energy had baseline projections showing prices reaching $ 60 per barrel - the equivalent of more than twice that in today's prices. the failure of oil prices to rise as projected in the late 1970s is a testament to the power of markets and the technologies they foster. today, despite its recent surge, the price of crude oil in real terms is only half of what it was in december 1979. as i indicated earlier, the rise in six - year oil and gas futures prices is almost surely going to affect the growth of oil and gas consumption in the united states and the nature

potential. they also enable countries to face the challenges of technological change, globalisation and ageing populations. in addition, structural reforms increase countries ’ resilience to economic shocks, contribute to improving the management of public spending and make it easier to maintain price stability. five years after lisbon, however, there is broad agreement that progress on structural reforms, particularly at the national level, has been unsatisfactory. this is not to deny that there has been notable and in some areas impressive progress on the implementation of structural reforms across europe. however, much remains to be done to meet the challenges most european countries still face. in particular, the eu needs to increase employment and labour utilisation, especially in the context of ageing populations. at the same time, productivity needs to be raised. against this background, the ecb supports the commission ’ s proposals to push forward the lisbon strategy by focusing reform efforts at the national and european level on “ delivering stronger, lasting growth and creating more and better jobs ”. such an economic environment would facilitate the achievement of the lisbon agenda ’ s social and environmental objectives. through the maintenance of price stability, the ecb will continue to support the lisbon process by providing a vital element for fostering sustainable output growth as well as for supporting employment and social cohesion. the ecb also supports national governments when they are determined to close the existing implementation gap, which must be done in order to reap the full benefits of reforms. this should also improve consumer and business confidence in the short run. in this regard, the ecb sees the use of benchmarking as an important instrument for fostering the implementation of reforms by surveying best practices across member states. benchmarking, based on sensibly defined quantitative indicators, should be regarded as a welcome driver of public debate, raising public awareness that structural reforms can be implemented successfully in eu countries and that they have important benefits. the post - financial services action plan strategy let me now turn to the ongoing structural reform process in the field of financial services. since the introduction of the single currency, financial integration at the level of institutions, markets and market infrastructures has been making significant progress. this is especially the case in wholesale markets, such as the unsecured money market, the government bond market and the related derivatives markets. this development is also the result of the impetus provided by the public measures taken in the context of the financial services action plan ( fsap ), which is about to be