Oil Prices Rise in anticipation of OPEC Agreement

Oil prices have risen in anticipation of OPEC meeting that is to be held in Vienna. The expected agreement on cuts is anticipated to give a bump to oil prices as Saudi and other OPEC members have repeatedly hinted at complying with cuts to shorten the oil glut. The proposal if agreed in the next meeting will last until March 2018 next year.

The agreement is expected to be backed up by all the member nations of OPEC, which include; Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Iran, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Kuwait, Venezuela, and Algeria. 

With experts anticipating a rise in oil prices and a crisis in oil market after 2020, the situation of investments in the exploration of oil fields has decreased substantially. Even after researches being carried out in the field of renewable, the major chunk of world population and infrastructure is still dependent on oil. This factor along with the growing middle classes in the emerging markets has the potential a crisis during the few years of 2020.

Crude oil prices rose by 1.04 per cent to Rs 3,311 per barrel in the futures market today on speculative buying following positive cues from Asian markets.

The far-month July contract was up by Rs 34, or 1.03 per cent, to Rs 3,339 per barrel.

Analysts said speculators built fresh positions after oil prices climbed toward USD 51 a barrel, boosted by growing hopes that an OPEC-led output cut will be extended by another nine months.

Meanwhile, West Texas Intermediate was up 0.79 per cent to USD 50.73 while Brent crude gained 0.78 per cent to USD 54.03 a barrel.