Saudi Arabia Reassures Oil Markets about ‘Omicron’

Saudi Arabia Reassures Oil Markets about ‘Omicron’

The Saudi Energy Minister, Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, confirmed that the postponement of the technical meetings of OPEC+ came to secure more time to study the impact of the coronavirus variant “Omicron” on the markets.

However, the minister affirmed that the group was not “worried” about the virus variant.

Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman refused to comment on the plans of OPEC+ before its meeting this week.

Meanwhile, investment bank Morgan Stanley on Monday lowered its forecast for the price of Brent crude for the first quarter of 2022 to $ 82.50 a barrel from $ 95.

However, the bank raised its forecast for Brent price for the third quarter to $90 a barrel from $85.

In a new report on Monday, JPMorgan (JPM) said that Brent crude oil will hit $125 a barrel next year and $150 in 2023.

The hike of prices will take place if OPEC+ doesn’t raise the production of oil.

JPM said it believed that the world may need to stop the monthly increase in OPEC+ production by 400,000 barrels per day every month, for a period of 3 months during the first half of next year, to achieve market balance.

Reducing production may depend on the economic impacts of the new strains of