Oil prices to remain unchanged until end of year

Nov 12, 2018

On Sunday, Abu Dhabi hosted a meeting of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and non-OPEC Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee.

                            Oil (File photo)

By Sputnik

OIL AND GAS

WORLD - Oil prices are unlikely to change until the end of the year and are projected to maintain the current average of $70-75 in 2019, Vagit Alekperov, the CEO of the Russian energy company LUKoil, told Sputnik on Monday.

On Sunday, Abu Dhabi hosted a meeting of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and non-OPEC Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee.

The participants examined a report compiled by the OPEC secretariat that called for a decrease in the current level of oil production.

While it also acknowledged the possible threat of excess oil production in 2019, it did not recommend cutting production, favoring continued observation of the oil market instead.

"I believe that today the [oil] prices are stable and they will remain the same until the end of the current year. Next year, I believe, [the oil prices] will also stand at the level of $70-75 [per barrel]," Alekperov said.

The LUKoil CEO added that, taking into account the existing oil prices — which, in his mind, were high enough already — it was too early to speak about a possible reduction in oil production as part of the OPEC-non-OPEC producers' deal on oil output cuts.

Alekperov also revealed that LUKoil had signed an agreement to stabilize the fuel market in Russia with the Russian Energy Ministry and the Russian Federal Antimonopoly Service.

On October 31, the Russian Energy Ministry, oil companies and independent refineries agreed on measures to stabilize prices on the fuel market.

The parties, in particular, agreed that fuel prices would remain at the May-early June level and then be indexed depending on the annual inflation. The agreement will be valid until March 31.

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