Expert predicts oil price dip to last til August

A Kuwaiti oil expert anticipated here on Tuesday that the current drop in international oil prices could continue until next August unless fresh geopolitical events emerged. The price of Brent oil is also predicted to be in the neighborhood of USD 97-100 per barrel in the second quarter of this year, Dr. Abdulsamee' Behbehani told KUNA. He ascribed the current drop in global oil prices to bearish international demand for oil, as the deteriorating economic situation in western countries remained unchanged. But, he considered this fall in oil prices a normal seasonal matter as oil prices often dwindle away when spring and summer come, but rebound with the advent of winter as demand for oil, especially for heating, hikes. Meanwhile, the Kuwaiti oil expert believed that the US shale oil boom has not continued due to the inability of the pipeline network to absorb more quantities, given that the number of diggers in US fields dipped by roughly six percent. The US consumes around 18 million barrels per day (bpd) while producing only 10 million bpd; having to make the remaining eight million barrels available through importing, he remarked. Washington has failed so far to boost oil production by four million bpd out of shale oil, he said. It costs around USD 80 to extract a single shale oil barrel compared to only USD three or six for a conventional oil barrel. Owing to the high cost of shale oil extraction, Middle East countries are reluctant to extract shale oil, he concluded.