Analysts see Brent oil again at $ 80

Abu Dhabi: According to analysts, Brent crude oil would rise to $ 80 (293.8 Dh) a barrel, while US sanctions against Iran come into effect next month.

The United States reimposed sanctions on Iran, Opec's third-largest oil producer, earlier this year and urged all importing countries to stop buying oil from them.

The issue raised concerns about the supply shortage in the market and pushed up oil prices, with Brent trading at $ 85 a barrel at its highest level in four years this month. But oil prices fell last week after Saudi Arabia reassured the oil markets that it would respond to any demand that would materialize as a result of a stock-out following US sanctions against Iran.

"With $ 75 a barrel now, we are seeing Brent crude rising to $ 80 a barrel in anticipation of the imposition of sanctions by the United States," said Ole Hansen, Saxo Bank's product strategy manager. .

Brent traded at $ 77.62 a barrel, up 0.95% at the close of trading on Friday. West Texas Intermediate was at $ 67.59, up 0.39%.

At a conference in Riyadh, Saudi Energy Minister Khalid Al Falih announced that he will closely monitor the markets over the next two to three months and add more oil on the market to respond to any potential demand.

"We will decide whether there are disruptions in supplies and in particular with the imminent imposition of Iran's sanctions." We will continue with the current state of mind, to know how to respond to any concrete request and ensure customer satisfaction, "he said.

Al Falih also said he raised the ceiling on production restrictions and asked countries to increase production to stabilize oil markets.

"In June, we raised the country ceiling and declared 'produce as much as you can'. Our strategy worked two years ago when we reduced production to restore stability. It has worked in recent months by easing production and dispelling worries about impending scarcity, "he added.

Hansen believes that Saudi Arabia's latest strategy of "producing as much as possible" will hurt available capacity and leave the market exposed in the event of a supply disruption.

"In such circumstances, the market will start to fear that less spare capacity will expose it in case of production failure of other producers such as Iraq, Venezuela, Libya and Nigeria. ", he added.