Oil prices are poised to carry on with their downtrend over the coming period, an oil and gas expert has expected, citing oversupply from Russia and Iraq, as well as other factors.
Russia's oil production has been on the rise recently to hit 10.58 million barrels per day (bpd), and Iraq's increased to 2.94 million bpd, expert Mohammad Al-Shati told KUNA on Wednesday. No signals of a potential rise can be seen.
Other causes for the potential fall include the rise of the US dollar and the increase of the US inventory of diesel and petrol. In addition, several refineries are currently having maintenance operations, Al-Shati said.
He cited international data revealing that the OPEC production in December was up by 240,000 bpd, supporting the oversupply belief.
Referring to reports by leading agencies, Al-Shati said that Brent crude will sway around USD 50 per barrel during the first quarter of 2015. The Kuwaiti crude oil will be around USD 45 per barrel.
He ruled out an emergency OPEC meeting soon to curb prices falls, since most oversupply comes from non-member states.