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Al Rumhy ... seeing oil below $85 a barrel

Oman's oil minister sees oil below $85 for some time

MUSCAT, November 20, 2014

Oman's oil and gas minister expects oil prices to remain below $85 per barrel for some time, which will weigh on the 2015 state budget, a local newspaper quoted him as saying.
 
Brent crude oil has fallen from above $115 a barrel in June to below $79 a barrel, ahead of an Opec meeting next week to discuss output. Oman is not a member of the producer group.
 
The Arabic-language Al Watan newspaper said Mohammad bin Hamad bin Seif Al Rumhy said that oil prices were "not likely to rise above $85 a barrel during the coming period".
 
"There is a big challenge to the state's general reserve fund, expenditures and programmes in the 2015 state budget, especially since there are concerns that the decline would last for years to come," Al Watan said, quoting the minister.
 
Rumhy said next year's budget has to be based on an oil price of $85 a barrel, similar to the one set for 2014, according to Al Watan.
 
Oman crude futures on the Dubai Mercantile Exchange (DME) are unlikely to rise above $80 a barrel, Rumhy said, tracking global prices.
 
The minister also said that the sultanate expects oil output to touch 1 million barrels per day during 2015, and that it was currently working to pump 990,000 bpd.
 
The figure is higher than estimates given by Rumhy earlier this year that Oman aims to produce around 950,000 bpd for the next two to three years as the Gulf state implements techniques to arrest an output decline. -- Reuters
 
 



Tags: Oman |

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