Oil Price Depends Less on Supply & Demand Says OAPEC Chief

Supply & demand no longer most influential factors determining oil prices, other factors predominate

The selling price of crude oil is more likely to be determined by geopolitical considerations, speculations, status of global oil reserves, rate of the US dollar, conditions at global financial markets, major shares, weather forecast and production and exports, opined Secretary General of OAPEC Abbas Al-Naqqi.

Al-Naqqi whose remarks came in a statement issued before the Gulf Petroleum Conference and Exhibition (2012) expressed his belief that events that had prevailed across the Arab world over the past months did not result in significant effects on the prices of oil.

Price of crude oil rose from USD 90 per barrel in at the end of 2010 to become USD 12 by the end of April 2011, due to noticeable intervention by speculators in the market, unfounded jitters and concern toward events that occured in the Middle East and Africa that acquire more than 60% of global oil reserves and control more than 40% of the global oil trade.