Speaking on Kuwaiti state television, the country’s oil minister, Shaikh Saud Nasser Al Sabah, has promised that OPEC will not let oil prices return to 1998 levels.
Indeed, he said, a situation in which oil prices fell to below $10 a barrel would represent unmitigated disaster for many of the oil producing countries.
To emphasize his point, Shaikh Saud said that Kuwait needs to sell crude oil at between $23 and $24 a barrel to balance its budget. Consequently, anybody who believes that the price could even dip as far as $20 a barrel is deluding himself, he stated.
The Kuwait oil minister admitted to having been surprised about oil actually rose. “To be honest, crude (prices) has exceeded our expectations,” he stated. But, continued Shaikh Saud, supply and demand are now balanced and the current price level represents the real price.
The IPE Brent crude oil price for January closed in London at $33.12 on Friday, down slightly from $33.52 a barrel on Thursday. – (Albawaba-MEBG)
