Oil prices are moving towards higher range

17. January. 2010
By: Waleed Khoury / Alhayah

Oil prices since the beginning of the year keep its level to be over 80$, compared with average total 75$ for "Brent oil" in the North Sea during past December, but the prices dropped last weekend to about 78$ because the expectations of the end of the cold wave in the United States and increasing commercial oil stocks due to increased imports. Suggest New York market speculation prices to the expectations of future oil price rise to about 90$.

There are many reasons for this rise in prices. There first, wave polar storms in the northern hemisphere, and secondly, the positive economic news about possible out of the global financial crisis in shorter time than expected. Third, the weakness of the dollar, and IV, the interruption of supplies of oil and gas for political & industry reasons in different regions of the world, such as, cessation of production of field "Lungi", the second largest Norwegian gas field in the North Sea, due to the storms, and fire in Canadian refinery owned by "Korean national oil company", and shrinking production of company "Chevron" in Nigeria because the  nasheftly attacks of "Niger Delta",  And finally, a series of positive economic news from China that refer to achieve sales records.

The China positive economic news, despite the global financial crisis, form the baseline element for higher oil prices. Indeed, China imports of crude oil and petroleum products increased to nearly 5 million barrels per day in December.

The gradual rise in oil prices during 2009, and prices increased from around 30$ in the early of year to about 75$ in late 2009, despite the continuing global financial crisis, the prices increased is evidence that we in a new phase of high oil prices level, despite setbacks here and there, the global balance of supply and demand progressively to a higher level of prices.

This was the image that available since the middle of this decade, the price level has not changed in the form of negative root only during the difficult days of global crisis.
It is obvious that this balance of supply and demand doesn't get in spontaneously, there is an important role for the OPEC Organization in achieving this balance, and then the importance of and need for cooperation and coordination between OPEC organization countries in the foreseeable future to maintain reasonable price and maybe avoid in the future prices consolidate , as happened in 2008 which rised to about 147$.