Report<\/a> informs referring to Reuters.<\/p>\nOil prices crashed in April last year when the COVID-19 movement restrictions hit their peak with the US crude benchmark turning negative for the first time.<\/p>\n
In a stark reversal, the traders do not discount a return to $100 per barrel oil further ahead.<\/p>\n
Vitol Chief Executive Russell Hardy sees the oil moving between $70 and $80 a barrel for the remainder of 2021 on the expectation that the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies (OPEC+) keep supply discipline, even as Iran\u2019s exports may resume if the United States rejoins a nuclear agreement with Tehran.<\/p>\n
\u201cIranian production is probably going to come back at some time during the September to November period. OPEC wants to manage their situation to allow that to happen relatively smoothly…supportive of prices,\u201d Hardy told the FT Commodities Global Summit.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re forecasting oil demand to come back to pre-COVID levels by Q3 or Q4 in 2022,\u201d Alex Sanna, Glencore\u2019s head of oil, told the conference.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have ample (spare capacity) at the front end, having said that if the Iranian deal doesn\u2019t happen and inflationary pressures continue to come, I see flat prices moving up from here.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mercuria expects oil demand to be mostly back by the year end at just over 100 million barrels per day (bpd), just shy of pre-COVID levels.<\/p>\n
\u201cInventories are back to pre-COVID levels except for China, that still has a buffer…roughly 150 million barrels,\u201d said Marco Dunand, CEO of Mercuria Energy Trading.<\/p>\n
With vaccinations under way and COVID-19 lockdowns easing, investors now weigh a triumverate of factors – Iran, underinvestment and the wild card of new climate change policies.<\/p>\n
Investments to replace depleting oilfields and develop new ones has fallen dramatically in part due to the COVID-19 economic slump as well as the energy transition.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe supply situation is quite concerning. We\u2019ve gone from 15 years of reserves to 10 years,\u201d Trafigura CEO Jeremy Weir said.<\/p>\n
While sky-high oil prices could return, they are not part of a much-hyped commodities super cycle, which the traders see as metals-centric led by the requirements expand power infrastructure to keep step with the energy transition.<\/p>\n
\u201cCan oil return to over $100 a barrel? Of course, it could,\u201d Gunvor CEO Torbjorn Tornqvist said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a risk that supplies of hydrocarbons goes down faster than the alternatives are able to make up for. That\u2019s the real danger.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
![](\"https:\/\/qia.az\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2021\/06\/Major-traders-say-oil-for-100-not-impossible.jpg\")
<\/p>\n