Iran’s market return could sink oil prices by $5 to $15, IMF says
HOUSTON – The International Monetary Fund says a resurgence in Iranian oil exports next year could push crude prices down by $5 to $15 a barrel, deepening a market downturn that already has deeply bruised the oil industry.
Iran, which has the world’s fourth-largest oil reserves, expects to pump an additional half-million barrels a day into international markets next year, after the United States and other western powers lift sanctions against its oil exports. It has already shown western oil companies more than 70 energy projects it’s planning.
And though the market has likely baked in some of the impact of Iran’s future exports, crude prices could sink further once the Islamic Republic’s oil production actually begins to rise, the IMF said in a report this week.
U.S. crude edged up 5 cents to $35.86 a barrel in early trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange on Tuesday. The February futures contract replaced the January contract, which settled on Monday at $34.74 a barrel. Brent, the international standard, fell 21 cents to $36.14 a barrel on the ICE Futures Europe, closing in on a new 11-year low.
Read more: http://fuelfix.com/blog/2015/12/22/irans-market-return-could-sink-oil-prices-by-5-to-15-imf-says/
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