Hong Kong (AsiaNews) - The price of oil continues to fall: in Asian markets today it has exceeded the threshold of 60 USmce_markernbsp; a barrel. The "light sweet crude" to be delivered in January was valued at 59.09 US$; a barrel of Brent North Sea has lost 52 cents, reaching 63.16 US$.
Since June last, from the value of 106.91, the price of oil has lost dropped over 40%. According to the Iranian Ministry of Petroleum, the price may go down even further, below 40 US$ per barrel. A superabundant offer of oil together with a reduction in demand have contributed to the trend. Last November however, OPEC countries decided not to cut production. According to analysts, the "price war" is an attempt by Saudi Arabia to "punish" the United States that has achieved energy self-sufficiency with the exploitation of oil shale. This production manages to be profitable as long as the price per barrel remains at 50 to 70 dollars.
But in addition to the high US production, the fundamental problem remains the reduction in demand in Europe, Japan and China due to the global economic crisis.