World oil prices have been rising continuously since early 2004, from US$32 per barrel to the neighborhood of US$60 in the second half of 2005. As a resource highly interwoven with the whole chain global economic activity, oil is generating price pressures throughout all sectors and levels of the economy -- with a degree of momentum that promises to remain quite strong in the foreseeable future. The global information and communications technology industry has naturally been experiencing the impact of oil prices on multiple levels as well.