trickblue
07-30-2008, 08:28 PM
Link (http://www.news.com.au/business/story/0,27753,24098778-462,00.html)
Oil price 'abnormal' but $US78 achievable
Article from: Herald Sun
July 30, 2008 12:01am
CRUDE oil prices above $US120 a barrel are "abnormal" and could fall to about $US78 under the right circumstances, OPEC president Chakib Khelil said in Jakarta yesterday.
"If the dollar continues to strengthen and the political situation (regarding Iran) improves, then the long-term prices will be about $US78," Mr Khelil said, adding the market was well supplied with oil.
Crude prices have doubled over the past two years but have fallen from record highs of $US147 a barrel earlier this month.
They were trading at around $US125 yesterday.
"There's a balance in the market," Mr Khelil said. "I would say stocks are at a good level and there hasn't been any disruption in demand."
Asked whether any members of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries should cut production if oil prices continued to fall, he said: "No, I don't think so. Why should they cut production?
"They always want to make sure there's good supply and demand and to satisfy the demand."
OPEC will meet in Vienna on September 9 to review output after maintaining levels at its past three meetings in December, February and March.
Crude oil for September delivery rose as much as US86, or 0.7 per cent, to $US125.59 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange yesterday.
Libya's top oil official said yesterday that oil prices slipped from a record as concerns over an escalation of tensions between the US and Iran eased.
"Probably it's about geopolitics, the US and Iran," said Shokri Ghanem, the head of Libya's National Oil Corp.
"Oil prices will go up again because of speculation."
OPEC's 13 members will increase production by 200,000 barrels a day, or 0.6 per cent, to 32.9 million barrels a day this month compared with June, according to estimates by industry consultant PetroLogistics.
Saudi Arabia - the world's largest oil exporter - pledged on June 22 to increase output by 200,000 barrels a day in July, on top of a previous 300,000 barrel-a-day boost scheduled for June.
Iran's Oil Minister Gholamhossein Nozari was cited as saying by the state-run Shana news agency on July 22 that OPEC shouldn't raise output when it met in Vienna.
OPEC members are Algeria, Angola, Ecuador, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Venezuela.
Indonesia, the only Asian member of OPEC, has said it will not renew its membership of the oil cartel at the end of the year because it has turned into a net importer in recent years.
Oil price 'abnormal' but $US78 achievable
Article from: Herald Sun
July 30, 2008 12:01am
CRUDE oil prices above $US120 a barrel are "abnormal" and could fall to about $US78 under the right circumstances, OPEC president Chakib Khelil said in Jakarta yesterday.
"If the dollar continues to strengthen and the political situation (regarding Iran) improves, then the long-term prices will be about $US78," Mr Khelil said, adding the market was well supplied with oil.
Crude prices have doubled over the past two years but have fallen from record highs of $US147 a barrel earlier this month.
They were trading at around $US125 yesterday.
"There's a balance in the market," Mr Khelil said. "I would say stocks are at a good level and there hasn't been any disruption in demand."
Asked whether any members of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries should cut production if oil prices continued to fall, he said: "No, I don't think so. Why should they cut production?
"They always want to make sure there's good supply and demand and to satisfy the demand."
OPEC will meet in Vienna on September 9 to review output after maintaining levels at its past three meetings in December, February and March.
Crude oil for September delivery rose as much as US86, or 0.7 per cent, to $US125.59 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange yesterday.
Libya's top oil official said yesterday that oil prices slipped from a record as concerns over an escalation of tensions between the US and Iran eased.
"Probably it's about geopolitics, the US and Iran," said Shokri Ghanem, the head of Libya's National Oil Corp.
"Oil prices will go up again because of speculation."
OPEC's 13 members will increase production by 200,000 barrels a day, or 0.6 per cent, to 32.9 million barrels a day this month compared with June, according to estimates by industry consultant PetroLogistics.
Saudi Arabia - the world's largest oil exporter - pledged on June 22 to increase output by 200,000 barrels a day in July, on top of a previous 300,000 barrel-a-day boost scheduled for June.
Iran's Oil Minister Gholamhossein Nozari was cited as saying by the state-run Shana news agency on July 22 that OPEC shouldn't raise output when it met in Vienna.
OPEC members are Algeria, Angola, Ecuador, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Venezuela.
Indonesia, the only Asian member of OPEC, has said it will not renew its membership of the oil cartel at the end of the year because it has turned into a net importer in recent years.