WASHINGTON, May 1: US Energy Secretary Samuel W. Bodman has warned that extraordinarily high international oil prices may stay at their current levels for the next two to three years, affecting consumers across the globe.

Another senior US official, White House Chief of Staff Joshua B. Bolten, endorsed Mr Bodman’s warning, saying that high prices at pumps “are not going to be solved in the short run by some silver bullet”.

Mr Bodman cited demand from such emerging economies as China and India as one of the main reasons for the current hike in oil prices. “Suppliers have lost control of the market, and, therefore, demand exceeds supply,” he told NBC Television’s ‘Meet the Press’ news show.

“Clearly, we are going to have a number of years, two or three years, before suppliers are going to be in a position to meet the demands of those who are consuming this product,” the US energy secretary said.

In a separate interview to Fox News, the White House chief of staff described the current oil crisis as “a very large problem, which has built up over many years — decades in fact.”

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice also has indicated that the Bush administration does not see the current oil crisis ending soon. Instead of offering a remedy to reduce oil prices, she said the American nation would be better off reducing its dependence on foreign oil and developing alternative sources of energy.

She told ABC News that while the Bush administration was urging oil-producing nations to increase production, the long-term solution is to embrace sources other than oil.

“We need to deal with long-term problems of technologies that may get us out of this trap,” she said.

Meanwhile, analysts appearing on various television shows warned that the standoff between the US and Iran over the oil-rich country’s nuclear programme, and political unrest in other oil-rich countries, such as Nigeria, would further aggravate the situation.

Iran warned on Sunday that oil prices could be substantially high if the United Nations slapped sanctions on the country for its nuclear programme.

Analysts urged motorists to prepare themselves for a crisis that’s not going to end any time soon by reducing consumption and avoiding unnecessary rides.

They warned that another Hurricane Katrina-like natural disaster in the US could throw oil prices out of control.

Some analysts pointed out that while the people suffer, big oil companies are making huge profits. Exxon Mobil Corporation, which in January reported a record one-year profit of $36 billion, last week announced an $8.4 billion for the first three months.