The price of the N. Sea Brent crude oil benchmark leapt above $40 a barrel tonight to a two-month high after markets took heart from the prospects of stable, or reducing, global oil output on more speculation of a deal between Moscow and Saudi Arabia.
Brent gained $2.12 – 5½% – to close at $40.84 amid market rumours that OPEC producers want a higher anchor price after a production boom as part of an economic price war against US shale oil gas suppliers that has seen crude prices plummet from more than $110-barrels two years ago.
The price of Brent crude has now gone up more than 40% from the low it reached in January, although it remains 70% below its peak in the summer of 2014.
The higher the price of N. Sea Brent crude oil, the longer the economic life of the ‘uber-mature’ basin.
The whole of UK’s oil and gas industry is under intense pressure in the current business environment of sustained low oil prices. The industry is working closely with both the Scottish and UK Governments and its regulator, the Oil & Gas Authority, to adapt.- Sir Ian Diamond, Principal, University of Aberdeen
- Paul Goodfellow, Shell UK
- Gunther Newcombe, OGA
- Graeme Young, CMS
- Derek Leith, EY
- Prof. John Paterson, University of Aberden
- Amec Foster-Wheeler
- Prof. Alex Kemp, University of Aberdeen
The 2016 UK Oil and Gas Collaboration Conference – Aberdeen 14 April
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