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Kuwaiti Oil Minister Sheikh Ahmad Abdullah al-Sabah said on Thursday that OPEC will step in to alter output if crude prices top 100 dollars a barrel.
"If prices of oil go above 100 (dollars), then OPEC will meet to take a decision on production levels," in a bid to boost supplies, the Kuwaiti minister told reporters outside parliament.

But Sheikh Ahmad stressed that any decision will greatly depend on prevailing "market situations and supply and demand."

Above is an extract from AFP news.

My question : Will OPEC really try to control the oil price if it touches $100?

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Oil & Gas Directory

Oil prices rose to 17-month highs on Thursday on further signs that a global economic recovery would boost consumption.

In New York the price of a barrel of light sweet crude for delivery in May rose over a dollar to 84.87 by the end of trade on Thursday, up from 83.76 the day before.

During trade the price briefly rose above 85 dollars, the highest level since October 9, 2008.

Brent North Sea crude for May also hit a similar high at 84.04 dollars, before pulling back slightly to 83.96, up 1.26 dollars.

"Decent data around the globe have offered a positive backdrop," said analysts at Sucden Financial Research in a note to clients.

Now, with the Peak Oil discussions commencing once again in UK and the rest of the world, will there be another recession coming which will be worse that the Sub-Prime recession?

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Oil prices could stay within the $70-$80 a barrel range for 10 years, the Opec oil cartel said yesterday, arguing that lower prices would deter investment in new energy supply but higher prices would hamper economic growth.

Opec cautioned that its assumptions did not reflect whether such a price development was likely or desirable. But by assuming the $70-$80 a barrel range, the group appears to be trying to anchor oil market expectations around $75, a price level which Saudi Arabia, Opec's de facto leader, describes as "fair".

While watching various analysts predict the oil prices at the end of the year is interesting, The investors seem to be exercising a lot of caution still.
Can be seen from the market??

By SPENCER SWARTZ

LONDON—The International Energy Agency Friday said it expects world oil demand in 2010 to resume trend growth seen earlier this decade, a bullish call, as economic activity advances in the second half of the year.

World crude consumption this year is expected to clock growth of 1.8%, or 1.6 million barrels a day, with all of that increase coming from emerging markets like China, the Paris-based agency, said in its monthly oil market report.

"We are seeing demand growth back on trend level that we saw earlier this decade," said David Fyfe, who edits the IEA report. The forecast represents a slight upward revision from January of 70,000 barrels a day.

The agency, an energy watchdog for big consuming nations like the U.S., said world oil demand started growing again in the fourth quarter after dropping five straight quarters.

The IEA has been among the more bullish forecasters in the oil market. Other analysts think issues like high U.S. unemployment, weak lending and economic problems in Europe will thwart consumer activity, all of which will retard global oil demand growth to just around half the rate the IEA is currently projecting.

Crude prices Friday in New York traded up around 15 cents at $82.25 a barrel at 0840 GMT, as dealers mull whether prices can retest a 15-month high of $83.95 a barrel hit last month on optimism about economic recovery.

Write to Spencer Swartz at spencer.swartz@dowjones.com

This piece is an extract from http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424…=googlenews_wsj

This is an extract from : http://in.reuters.com/article/businessNe…-44839220091218

LONDON (Reuters) - U.S crude oil is expected to rise to an average of $76.40 a barrel in 2010, a Reuters poll showed on Friday, as global economic recovery solidifies and the demand for fuel begins to soak up available supply.

The poll of 27 analysts showed a rising consensus forecast for the eighth consecutive month. In April of this year, the average forecast for 2010 was $65.95 a barrel.

"We are now turning to a phase in which focus could shift from common factors - such as recovery in global demand - to specific factors such as capacity, demand and inventories for individual commodities," said Christine Tuxen at Danske Markets.

"We continue to see oil testing $90 on a three-month horizon, and still see WTI averaging $83 next year," she said, using the acronym for West Texas Intermediate, the benchmark oil traded in the world's largest energy consumer.

U.S. crude is expected to average $74.90 in the fourth quarter of 2009, up from $73.70 in the last poll.

U.S. crude prices rose as high as $82 in October, retracing in November to below $70 on a strengthening dollar and excessive global supply.

Analysts in the latest poll said U.S. crude would average $63.10 a barrel for 2009 as a whole, compared to a forecast of $60.80 in November.

More at http://in.reuters.com/article/businessNe…lBrandChannel=0

I read the Goldman Sachs news whioch said :
Goldman Sachs says that one barrel of West Texas Intermediate oil, which is used as the benchmark price for crude, will cost $90 in 2010, up from the $70 to $80 price range crude oil has been selling at for the past few months.

Which month are they talking about? Are they talking of any particular month or average price for the year?

This is an extract from http://www.heatingoil.com/blog/goldman-sachs-2010-crude-price-prediction-90-barrel1204/

According to Reuters on Wednesday, Goldman Sachs has kept its prediction for 2010 oil prices but has upped its forecast for 2011. And neither bodes well for heating oil consumers.

Goldman Sachs says that one barrel of West Texas Intermediate oil, which is used as the benchmark price for crude, will cost $90 in 2010, up from the $70 to $80 price range crude oil has been selling at for the past few months. And in 2011, due to rising demand from emerging countries such as China, India and Brazil, Goldman says that oil will reach $110 per barrel.

Herald News ServicesDecember 12, 2009

Societe Generale SA raised its average crude oil price forecast for next year in New York by 7.6 per cent to $88.75 US a barrel, on expectations that fuel demand will grow as the economy improves.

The bank boosted its previous forecast for the year by $6.25 a barrel from $82.50. Oil has averaged $61.38 a barrel so far this year on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices dropped 7.4 per cent to $69.87 a barrel this week, in the biggest decline since September.

"We expect oil demand to recover in 2010, growing by 1.4 million barrels a day over the year, assuming a modest global economic recovery of 3.5 per cent," said Mike Wittner, Londonbased head of oil research, in the bank's commodities outlook for the first quarter of 2010. "OPEC will be in the driver's seat and will continue to carefully restrain output."

The bank forecast West Texas Intermediate crude oil price will average $92.50 in the third and fourth quarters of next year.

This is an extract from : http://www.edmontonjournal.com/business/…3721/story.html

In the participation so far in predicting the prices of Crude oil on the 30th of June 2010, we have the following results :

21% between $65 & $75

19% between $75 & $85

19% between $96 & $105

15% between $85 & $95

Is this a better way ofr predicting than lengthy analysis? I do not know. many people do not know.

But what can be observed is that the predictions by various analysts keep changing with time. As we have heard before - we are on our own and we should make our own predictions. In today's world one thing is sure - things change very fast. So do the oil prices and the factors that influence the oil prices.

MOSCOW: The World Bank forecast an average oil price of $75.29 per barrel in 2010 in a presentation released on Tuesday, saying it did not expect a
return next year to price levels seen before the economic crisis.



The bank did not specify the type of oil to which it was referring in the presentation on the Russian economy.

US crude prices fell on Tuesday to $79 a barrel as a late-season hurricane subsided in the Gulf of Mexico and traders awaited key US inventory data.



This is an extract from http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news…how/5215544.cms