Oil prices could reach USD 100 a barrel: official

Oil prices could reach USD 100 per barrel if there were "dramatic" developments in the Gulf or elsewhere, a leading oil official has said.

Oil prices could reach USD 100 per barrel if there were "dramatic" developments in the Gulf or elsewhere, a leading oil official has said.

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An increase in tension between Iran and the West over the former’s nuclear activities, security developments in Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) member Nigeria and weather changes could push the price to USD 100, Nawal Al Fuzaie said.

Kuwait’s oil minister last week said that OPEC would pump more oil if the price went above USD 100 and stayed there.

Any such change in the factors that could push the price to USD 100 would be temporary, Al Fuzaie was quoted by Kuwait’s state news agency Kuna as saying.

Growth in the US, European, Chinese and Indian economies is increasing demand for crude and products and pushing up the price.

Kuwait is the world’s fourth-largest oil exporter, and crude exports are the mainstay of its economy.