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Brent oil prices open Friday’s trading session near $115 a barrel as protests today in Saudi Arabia could shake the world’s oil markets sending oil futures into a spin, traders and investors watch in the sidelines.
Latest Brent Oil Price
In London, Brent crude oil futures for April 2011 delivery was trading at $115.02, 06.50 GMT this morning on the ICE Futures Exchange
One in Three Chance of $200 Oil in 2011?
Continued unrest in the Middle East is threatening to send oil prices rocketing even further fuelling fears that the cost of a barrel of oil could break the $200 mark, according to some analysts.
Online betting company “Paddy Power” has recently slashed their odds on a barrel of oil soaring to $200 to just 3/1 as worried punters piled on.
“Three years ago we saw the same gamble when there were fears oil would break $200. It never did reach $200 in 2008; instead it peaked just below $150. But this time around the odds on such an occurrence are half what they were.” said Sharon McHugh, spokesperson for Paddy Power.
Eyes on Saudi Arabia
Whether or not the price of oil breaks $200 will most likely depend on how things pan out politically with the world’s largest oil producer Saudi Arabia. Relations have been sour for some time between Saudi Arabian authorities and the country’s minority Shi’ites, who count for about 10 percent of the population and make up the majority of the protesters.
They have long complained of discrimination, saying they are barred from key positions in the military and government and are not given an equal share of the country’s wealth.
The unrest in Saudi has the potential to raise greater concerns than perhaps elsewhere in the Middle East and North Africa because Saudi is the world’s largest oil producer. Most global markets have been in decline for a week or more because of the potential threat to economic growth from higher oil prices and restricted oil supplies from Northern Africa and possibly the Middle East.
Brent oil prices have rising 25 percent since the start of the year and the short term oil price forecast for Brent will be heavily dependant on whether Saudi Arabian oil output can remain steady.
