Iran says $200 per barrel oil possible
Wire services
Iran's Oil Minister Gholamhossein Nozari said it would be possible to see a
price of $200 per barrel for crude if existing conditions in the market
continued, an Iranian news agency reported today.
"If current conditions continue, reaching a period when oil is supplied at
$200 a barrel is not out of reach," Nozari told the official IRNA news
agency.
Nozari said the reasons behind the surge in oil prices, which this week hit
a record high above $123 a barrel, were the weak US dollar and supply
concerns from Nigeria.
Iran and other members of Opec, source of two in every five barrels of oil,
have blamed factors other than supply and demand for oil's record high
prices.
"In fact, the US dollar has weakened ... Another reason is related to
problems in Nigeria's oil production," Nozari said.
Oil has risen from below $20 in early 2002 and is widely predicted to
continue its climb.
Opec oil supply fell in April to 31.64 million barrels per day, its lowest
this year, as a strike cut Nigerian output and top Opec exporters Saudi
Arabia and Iran trimmed production, a Reuters survey showed last week.
08 May 2008 07:27 GMT
| last updated:
08 May 2008 07:33 GMT
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