INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Brent oil prices are expected to remain at elevated levels.Crude oil prices touched new four-year highs on Tuesday
Brent crude - the international benchmark for crude oil - touched $82.20 a barrel during Tuesday's session
That marked a level beyond the last peak witnessed in November 2014
Expectation of a tightening supply in the global oil market in the coming months has pushed crude oil prices higher, say analysts
States on Iran, the third-largest producer among OPEC (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) member countries.Here are 10
things to know about rising crude oil prices:1
immediate production increases, after the United States' call for increase in supplies by the top producers.2
The US administration has demanded that the OPEC or Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and Russia increase their supplies to
make up for the expected fall in Iranian exports.3
Analysts expect crude oil prices to stay under pressure on the back of a deadlock on supply between the top producers and the world's
"Given the current oil market scenario, we believe prices of crude oil are to rise around $78/bbl -$80/bbl unless the number of rigs
deployed by the by the United States are increased," said credit ratings agency CARE Ratings.5
"Now, as the deadline of sanctions on Iran is nearing and as the OPEC non OPEC countries have consistently shown their reluctance over
increasing production, the latest phase of bull rally has become more more impulsive," said Gaurav Katariya, research head (commodity),
"$82 may be a short lived resistance as the rally is very impulsive and any correction of, say, 3 to 4 per cent, from here will only bring
disruption after Iran sanctions and a broader range of $80 to $90 per barrel looks achievable in the last quarter of this year," said
Abhishek Bansal, founder and chairman of ABans Group of Companies.7
Commodity merchants Trafigura and Mercuria have predicted that crude oil prices will touch $100 a barrel by the end of 2018, according to
Iran exports come into effect, oil prices "are likely to go even higher given an expected drop in supply from major producers Iran and
Venezuela and political and price escalation prevailing in the markets", CARE Ratings added.9
The OPEC has, in its World Oil Outlook 2018, said that the demand for OPEC crude is projected to increase to around 40 million barrels per
day in 2040, up from million barrels per day in 2018
The share of OPEC crude in the global oil supply is estimated to increase from 34 per cent in 2017 to 36 per cent in 2040.(With agency
