The popular saying during this period of time is “I am destined to have oil, but I am not going to have oil”. This sentence is also suitable to describe the international oil prices that have been soaring this year. In the week ending July 2, U.S. and Burundi oil prices continued to fluctuate at high levels. WTI crude oil was like a rocket, breaking $76 per barrel during the week, setting a new high in three years. U.S. banks and oil and gas giants have said that it is not a dream for oil prices to break $100 next year; but from Russia’s perspective, oil prices can go even higher.
International oil prices rose by more than 50% in the first half of the year! Russia: Will soar to $200/barrel by the end of the year
In early June, important Russian figure Alexander Novak strongly criticized the International Energy Agency (IEA) for net zero emissions plan, angrily denounced the IEA as “ridiculous” to require countries around the world to immediately stop investment in new oil fields, natural gas and coal projects in order to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.
Novak said that the IEA’s plan will reduce oil supply, causing international oil prices to soar to US$200 per barrel by the end of this year, and natural gas prices to rise steadily.
Nowak’s remarks also received support from Qatar and Saudi Arabia, who said they would continue to invest in new oil fields and natural gas. Qatar’s Energy Minister said that excessive pursuit of clean energy is very dangerous. If investment in oil exploration cannot continue, oil prices are bound to rise sharply. Saudi Energy Minister Abdulaziz also called the IEA’s carbon emissions target a fantasy.
This is indeed the case. According to statistics, Brent crude oil rose by more than 45% in the first half of this year, and WTI crude oil rose by more than 51.4% in the first half of the year. Both touched the level of October 2018. The highest level since last month. Affected by this, the price of crude oil in Russia’s Volga region rose to 36,700-37,100 rubles per ton in July, an increase of about 11% from June, setting a new record high.
OPEC + crude oil production increase in vain? China’s refined oil products welcome the “ninth rise”
It should be noted that the recent negotiations at the 18th OPEC and non-OPEC oil-producing countries reached a deadlock. At first, OPEC+ had almost An agreement was reached to increase production, that is, to restore crude oil production to 400,000 barrels per day per month from August to December this year. However, the UAE firmly disagreed and demanded a larger production increase.
According to British media citing people familiar with the matter, the United Arab Emirates requested to increase the country’s crude oil production benchmark from the current 3.168 million barrels per day to 3.84 million barrels per day. It is reported that after the OPEC+ production reduction agreement was reached last year, about 30% of the UAE’s crude oil production capacity was forced to idle. Due to differences among major oil-producing countries, the production increase agreement cannot be implemented concretely, and international oil prices continue to be supported.
Goldman Sachs also stated that an increase in average daily crude oil production of 500,000 barrels in August may not be able to effectively curb the rise in oil prices. After all, this increase in production is far from meeting the surge in crude oil demand. The latest report from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) states that global oil demand is expected to increase by 6% in 2021, reaching an average of 96.5 million barrels per day.
You must know that since 2014, international oil prices have never exceeded US$100 per barrel. However, in the context of the imbalance of supply and demand in the global oil market, three-digit oil prices seem to be far away from us. Far away, industry voices pointed out that it may only take one or two catalysts for oil prices to soar rapidly.
In addition, according to recent changes in international oil prices, China’s retail prices of refined oil products will be raised for the ninth time this year from June 28 to 24. After this increase is implemented, domestic The price of 92# gasoline in most areas will return to the “7 yuan era.” </p
