BAKU, Azerbaijan, Dec. 6
By Anastasia Savchenko - Trend:
Mitigation of trade disputes between the US and China will contribute to the growth of the global economy in 2020, which in turn, will lead to an increase in energy demand and will contribute to higher oil prices next year, Director of the Caspian Barrel Oil Research Center Ilham Shaban told Trend commenting on the possible reduction in oil prices in 2020.
The expert drew attention to the fact that in August 2019, forecasts indicated a decrease in prices for energy resources, in particular oil, and according to reports for the third quarter of 2019, the economies of the US, China and the EU are lagging behind forecasts.
"As a result, in the first quarter of 2020, it was predicted that oil prices would be slightly lower. All financial institutions proceeded from the fact that if the world economy grows slowly, then energy requirements will decrease, which means that the price of oil will be lower," the expert said.
The expert also noted that in August 2019, there was a decrease in Brent crude oil prices, and then, in September, due to an attack on Saudi fields and oil facilities, oil prices increased.
A month later, in October, oil prices did not reach $60 per barrel, he added.
Drawing attention to the December meeting of OPEC member countries, the expert noted that either the decision to reduce oil production, taken a year ago, will remain unchanged until the end of 2020, or oil production will be reduced by 400,000 barrels.
"This is done so that the countries that are members of OPEC and OPEC+, whose economy depends on one raw material, could achieve the fair value of oil this way," he added.
In conclusion, the expert said that the global oil market is primarily responding to events in the world and to OPEC's initial statements.
The average price of Brent crude oil in 2018 amounted to $69.8 per barrel. In October, it reached $85 per barrel, but by the end of the year it dropped to a minimum, almost collapsing below $50 per barrel, but finished the year at $53.8 per barrel.
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