Crude price US$50-60 pb by mid-2017, says KPI chief

London / WAM

The global oil price will hopefully retain its normal average, reaching USD 50 to 60 per barrel by mid-2017, Kuwait Petroleum International (KPI) President, Bakheet Al-Rashidi said on Saturday.
In an exclusive statement to KUNA on the sideline of the annual KPI’s international marketing London bureau celebration, Al-Rashidi said that the current status quo of the global market could be described as being in a corrective phase which demands from oil producers to bring back the low price to its reasonable rate after a long period of surplus in supplies.
The forecasted increase is different from that of 2003 and 2004, said the KPI President, noting that the price will go up gradually to reach around USD 50 per barrel.
He added that the possibility of reaching a record high for the price would not occur in the near foreseeable future, saying that the price might reach USD 60 to 80 per barrel in a three year-time.
Al-Rashidi touched on the recent KPI selling of a refinery in Rotterdam, the Netherland, stressing that KPI will still have ownership of a research and development (R&D) center in the facility.
The selling of the refinery, which produces around 88,000 barrels per day, was within KPI’s 2030 development strategy in Europe, said Al-Rashidi, revealing that the deal would not hinder the company’s operations in the continent. KPI usually puts out over 470,000 barrels per day.
In 2015, KPI achieved growth by 17 percent in Europe despite the low demand for oil, said Al-Rashidi.
KPI operates some 5,000 fuel stations throughout Europe and also provides plane fuel for some 200 companies in 70 international airports.
Regarding operations in Asia, Al-Rashidi said that KPI was looking forward to start operations at a refinery in Vietnam by the end of 2016, initiating its development strategy in that continent. The refinery is expected to produce some 200,000 barrels per day.