We expect the prices for “Brent” oil to be stable in the first quarter of 2014 because of supply disruptions and due to low reserves of distillates. What is more, we have to take into the consideration the fact that prices are usually the highest in the first quarter. We expect the average price for “Brent” to be $103 in 2014 against $109 in 2013. OPEC keeps the control on prices and may decrease the mining if the prices decrease sufficiently. But in the short-term we expect it to be traded between $90 and $115. Low air temperature in the North part of the world and low reserves of distillates in developed countries have an impact on the oil price growth. Also, technical Spring work on refinery stations can decrease demand and prices in the second quarter. If there is no difficulties with oil mining then the volume of production capacity in 2014 can increase for 2,2 ml barrels a day what will be the most significant increase of the last decades.
Andrei Batensky