Will OPEC collapse?

By  Trend

Oil and gas for now have a share of over 60 percent of the global consumption basket, and it's hard to imagine that a serious blow will be inflicted on this share, and that the world’s largest producer (OPEC) will collapse, analyst for energy issues Mehdi Hossein said in an interview with ISNA, Trend reports.

He added that the market needs oil.

The oil demand grows as the economy of a country develops, and there is a 3.5-4 percent economic growth in the world, so, the demand surely increases, Hossein added.

"A question arises: is the supply at the demand level? In my opinion, countries that make changes in the market, for example, Russia, Iraq, the US and others have reached maximum production and cannot produce more than that," he said.

Since the day the OPEC was founded, it witnessed economic crises in the energy markets, unstable oil prices, oil war in the 1990s and oil sanctions against Iran, Iraq and Libya, said Hossein.

"In my opinion, OPEC could survive due to its well operation," he said. "OPEC still has a big share in the market."

Last year, the price of oil reached $44-54 and grew by about 25 percent, he noted.

"Last year energy consumption was at the maximum level," he said. "Presently, a decline in prices is observed at the market. The reason is political and physical interference in the market. The US produces 13 million barrels of oil and Russia produces 11 million barrels of oil. Saudi Arabia also maximized its production. The political goals set by these countries aren’t long-term ones."