BW Communities

Oil To Hit $150 Per Barrel Near Term: IEA

BW Online Bureau Nov 08, 2014

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><root available-locales="en_US," default-locale="en_US"><static-content language-id="en_US"><![CDATA[Oil prices could reach $150 per barrel in the near term if investment in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) oil-producing region falls significantly, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Wednesday. "If between 2011 and 2015 investment in the MENA region runs one-third lower than the $100 billion per year required, consumers could face a near-term rise in the oil price to $150 per barrel," the IEA said in its annual World Energy Outlook. The IEA, adviser on energy policy to major oil-consuming countries, said world oil demand would rise steadily over the next two decades to reach around 99 million barrels per day (bpd) by 2035. It said short-term pressures on oil prices were easing as global economic growth slowed and Libyan oil began to return to the market after months of civil war, but in the longer term prices were likely to rise. The IEA raised its assumptions for the price of oil in 2035 to $210 per barrel from $204 a year ago. Production of conventional oil will fall gradually, it said, to around 68 million bpd by 2035, 0.5 million bpd lower than its forecast last year. (Reuters)