UPDATE3: Fincl players may push oil price down to $10-Russia’s Rosneft
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LONDON, Feb 10 (PRIME) -- Financial players at the oil market may test an even U.S. $10 per barrel oil price, Igor Sechin, the CEO of Russian oil major Rosneft, said Wednesday during an oil conference.
“Who was the main beneficiary of the current crisis? Obviously, consumers had no benefit, as the current prices for oil products fell only by less than 20% on average, while financial players benefited, and they have not yet transferred $250–300 billion of investments freed by the fall to projects in other sectors of the economy,” he said.
The players are ready to test any oil price levels. “We should admit that we have underestimated the fact that financial players know no limits and are ready to test any levels of prices in order to fulfill their own purely financial goals, including the level of $27 (per barrel) in January or even a level of $10,” he said.
A system of long-term contracts could become the most important element in stabilization of the situation at the global oil market, Sechin also said. “We need to impose a stabilizing influence on producers and consumers on the market, so we need to develop mechanisms for cooperation,” he said.
World’s oil producers are unlikely to reach an agreement to decrease the oil output. “Who should cut (the production)? Should Russia do it single-handedly?” Sechin said when asked if there is a possibility of a production cut agreement between oil producers.
But he also said that demand for oil may grow by 1.5 million barrels per day until the end of 2016 and almost catch up with supply. By the end of 2017, the market may even see a deficit of supply of 700,000 barrels per day, though it may be compensated by commercial reserves of oil that were stored in the past few years, he said.
There are two more factors that may affect the market – a higher supply to the market by OPEC countries and a growth of oil exports by the U.S., he added.
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