Washington ? The world will be living with volatile oil prices for years to come, but this year’s price spike should not be serious enough to push the country into a recession, Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said Friday.

Greenspan gave a generally upbeat assessment of the economy’s ability to withstand the spike in oil prices of recent months, saying that he did not believe the country will see a replay of the oil shocks of the 1970s and early 1980s that triggered a series of recessions. But he added some major qualifiers.

“We and the rest of the world doubtless will have to live with the uncertainties of the oil markets for some time to come,” he said in a speech to an Italian American group.

Greenspan also said his forecast of a milder economic impact from the current price spike depended on oil prices not rising significantly higher than they already have.

“Obviously, the risk of more serious negative consequences would intensify if oil prices were to move materially higher,” Greenspan said.

The Fed chairman spoke on a day when crude oil prices climbed further into record territory, with the price in New York trading hitting $54.93, up 17 cents from Thursday’s record close.

Greenspan said that even at current levels, crude oil prices are still about 40 percent below the all-time highs — in inflation-adjusted terms — of February 1981.

“The impact of the current surge in oil prices, though noticeable, is likely to prove less consequential to economic growth and inflation than in the 1970s,” Greenspan said.

But Greenspan said he believed existing technology and improvements spurred by higher prices should be sufficient to “ensure the needed supplies (of energy) for a very long while.”

Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan speaks about the status of the U.S. economy. He spoke Friday at The National Italian American Foundation in Washington. He said this year's surge in energy prices is likely to have far less of an effect on the economy than the oil shocks of the 1970s.

He made no direct reference to what the central bank might do in response to continued increases in energy prices. But many analysts read his remarks as a signal that the Fed is not yet concerned enough to suspend its campaign to boost interest rates to make sure inflation stays under control.

The Fed has raised its key interest rate from a 46-year low of 1 percent to 1.75 percent in three quarter-point moves in June, August and September. Many analysts look for a fourth rate increase when the Fed meets Nov. 10.

“Greenspan is saying that the increase in energy prices is a minor, not a major, problem,” said David Wyss, chief economist at Standard & Poor’s in New York. “But nobody knows for sure because nobody knows what is going to happen in the Middle East.”