Oil Prices to Remain Around $ 100 a Barrel: Iranian Official
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – A senior Iranian oil official predicted that there will not be considerable fluctuations in crude oil prices till the end of the current year.
Mohsen Qamsari, director for international affairs of National Iranian Oil Company, said global oil prices are likely to remain in the $100 per-barrel range until the end of 2014.
Speaking to Shana News Agency, he said the reason why oil prices are high is not a surge in demand but they have been kept high deliberately by countries like the US.
He said as supply currently surpasses demand in the crude oil market, prices should naturally have a downward trend.
High prices, therefore, are due to factors other than supply and demand, he stated.
Qamsari explained that the US is investing huge sums on developing its oil shale reserves and thus needs high crude prices to compensate for the expenses.
Oil prices have risen to a new nine-month high in Asian trade after Takfiri (extremist) militants attacked Iraq’s largest petroleum refinery complex amid raging violence in the Arab state.
On Thursday, US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for July jumped 58 cents to $106.55 a barrel, while the price of Brent crude for August delivery gained 37 cents to $14.63.
Since the outbreak of a fresh wave of violence in Iraq on June 10, the WTI has jumped by more than U$2.0 a barrel and Brent by over $4.0.
