Hong Kong (AsiaNews) - Shipping and airline stocks have shot up after OPEC's decision (the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries) not to reduce the production of crude oil, thus bringing down the price per barrel to below $ 70, the lowest level in four years.
According to analysts, oil costs account for 20-30% in shipping, and to 30-40% in the
airline transport. A low cost of oil will help their market at least in the
short term. Shipping companies -
for example - will
save at least up to 100 million US dollars a day.
The good news came after the OPEC meeting in Vienna yesterday, in which the 12 member countries decided not to cut production
by about 1 million barrels per day, although in recent months the price of oil had fallen low. Among
the OPEC nations, the most upset
is Venezuela which has been calling for
a reduction in extractions
to return the price to 100 US dollars per
barrel.
The OPEC decision,
led by Saudi Arabia, will hurt various
oil producers. Brent oil in
Britain fell yesterday by 6.7% reaching up to $
72.58 per barrel; in June had
reached 115.71.
But the goal of this
price war appears to be the oil shale produced
in the US, whose extraction, to be profitable, must have a sale price of at least $
80. Instead, the Middle Eastern
oil producing nations (Saudi Arabia, Iran
and Iraq) can
afford to lower their prices to $ 30 a barrel.
The further reduction in oil prices is likely to plunge Russia into a deeper crisis. Moscow covers half of its budget from taxes on oil and gas. The price of $ 70 a barrel could erode its revenues to the point of recession.