Report: Energy Min says 2019 oil price forecasts impossible

MOSCOW, Nov 12 (PRIME) -- Global trade wars, uncertainty in oil production outlooks in Iran, Venezuela and some other states make precise oil price forecasts for 2019 impossible, Russia’s Energy Minister Alexander Novak said in an interview with Rossiya 24 television channel on Monday.

“We see that next year we will have some uncertainty including trade wars. The way the global economy will develop is not completely clear including the situation in Iran,” he said.

Novak also said that crude prices will be based on the balance of demand and supply, but not individual statements of market participants.

“The balance of demand and supply will form the crude price, but not stand-alone statements. I see the current situation as more or less stable. We will see how the market will react considering a seasonal fall in demand and the supply uncertainty,” he said.

The OPEC+ ministerial monitoring committee met on November 11 to warn about a threat of crude oversupply in 2019. The joint decision on the future on the deal to cut oil production will be made in December.

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