|
(ICIS) -- Crude oil prices should just
hover at USD 75-80/bbl (EUR 51-54/bbl) given current market fundamentals and
cost environment, said the top executive of Malaysia’s state-owned oil and gas
firm Petronas on Monday. At midday, light sweet crude for July delivery was
trading at USD 100.11/bbl, while Brent crude was quoted at USD 115.46/bbl.
Although high crude prices generally benefit oil companies, they also
mean hefty production costs, Petronas president and CEO Shamsul Azhar Abbas told
delegates at the opening ceremony of the 16th Asia Oil and Gas Conference (AOGC)
in Kuala Lumpur.
While higher oil prices amid a recovery in demand have boosted capital
expenditure in the industry, oil companies' production costs may hit new highs
this year, he said.
Rising costs will test the industry’s abilities to make its capital
expenditure budgets “go to their intended length”, the Petronas chief said.
Meanwhile, Shamsul said that Asia must not be overlooked in upstream
investments, citing that geology-based assessments have suggested that the
region’s mean undiscovered oil resources are in the order of about 50bn
barrels.
mrcplast.com
| 
