Middle-East tension may spike crude beyond $100 per barrel, says Vandana Hari of Vanda Insights

The military conflict in the Middle-East has the potential to increase the crude oil price beyond $100 per barrel, said Vandana Hari, Founder and CEO, Vanda Insights.

“Have we seen the worst of the situations? I certainly don’t think so, it does look like the situation has the potential to get much worse before it gets better and of course when it does get better, what kind of a timeline we are looking at – that remains uncertain, it could be weeks or perhaps even months,” said Hari in an interview with CNBC-TV18.

“Couple of worst-case scenarios that we need to keep in mind… a full-blown war, a military conflict directly in the Middle-East which has the potential to drag in all the regional governments as well. It has a potential to spike prices beyond $100 per barrel,” she added.

Talking about supply in markets, she said, “Russia has not really kept to its quartile in any case even under the agreement with OPEC, but Russia has very limited spare capacity to produce more especially in the winter months as it is difficult. As far as Iran and Venezuela are concerned, as long as they remain at US sanctions, they don’t really have a capacity to supply more into the market. The one key supplier that we need to keep an eye on is the US.”
Source: CNBC TV18