- Saudi Arabia Plots to Push Oil Prices to $80
Despite pressure from the United States (U.S) to keep prices in check, Saudi Arabia is desperately attempting to push oil prices to $80 because the country “needs cash”.. It is keen about avoiding oil prices dropping below $70 with a price aim at $80.
A source close to the Saudi Arabia oil industry said Saudi Arabia “need” to keep prices high in an attempt to “manage the market”.
He said this was squarely due to U.S President Donald Trump and his attempt to keep prices in check.
The source said: “”The Saudis need oil at about $80 and they don’t want prices to go below $70. They want to manage the market like this. They need cash. They have plans and reforms and now the IPO is delayed.
“But they don’t want anyone else talking about oil prices now. It’s all because of Trump.”
It follows an August report by the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies which said Saudi Arabia was attempting to “strike a balance”, according to CNBC reports.
The report said: “Striking a balance between the various objectives, and doing it within a narrow price range, is an extremely difficult task given the wide uncertainties and the different shocks hitting the oil market. Saudi Arabia is in need of flexibility in its output policy.”
It comes after a commodities expert warned U.S crude oil prices could soar to $95.
An energy expert and founding member of investment management company Again Capital, John Kilduff, said the U.S’s crippling sanctions, which have seen Iran’s fuel supply plummet, were a direct factor in the surge in U.S crude price.
He told CNBC Future’s Now programme: “The global market is tight and it’s getting tighter, and the big strangle around the market right now is what’s in the process of happening with Iran and the Iran sanctions. These Iranian barrels that we’re going to lose, it’s really going to hurt. It’s really going to make a difference and tip the scale in my view to an upside surprise.”
