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mpc: 13 Although spot oil prices had fallen a little over the past month, they remained about 15% higher in US dollar terms than at the time of the February Inflation Report; and futures prices were on average some 20% higher. The substantial increase in oil prices over the past year was likely to have acted as a drag on output growth, even though it partly reflected current and prospective increases in global demand for oil. The high price of oil was likely to continue to dampen growth during 2005.