The crisis in the oil market will not last more than six months, and prices may recover to $50 per barrel by the end of 2020, Pavel Zavalny, chairman of the Russian parliament's lower house's energy committee, believes
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 02nd April, 2020) The crisis in the oil market will not last more than six months, and prices may recover to $50 per barrel by the end of 2020, Pavel Zavalny, chairman of the Russian parliament's lower house's energy committee, believes.
"Everything indicates that the oil price crisis will not last more than six months. In the coming months, the price of a barrel of Brent crude will be in the range of $25-$35 per barrel. Then, by the end of the year, as countries overcome the coronavirus crisis and lift quarantine measures, including tourism bans, prices will recover to $50 per barrel," Zavalny said, as quoted by the Russian Gas Society.
When the market stabilizes, OPEC+ decisions can again become an effective tool for influencing prices, the lawmaker said.
Global oil prices began to fall in January this year amid the coronavirus epidemic in China. The spread of the infection across the globe and the breakup of the OPEC+ oil output cut deal in early March led to a huge oil market surplus, sending prices to their lowest points in the past two decades. The price for the Urals oil blend for delivery to North-Western Europe fell on Wednesday to $10.54 per barrel, according to the Argus agency. However, Brent and WTI oil futures rebounded on Thursday by about 10 percent to around $27 and $22 per barrel, respectively, after US President Donald Trump said that Russia and Saudi Arabia would soon agree on market-regulating measures.
