OPEC+ May Push The Price Of Oil Barrel To Above $50

FILE PHOTO: General view of Saudi Aramco's Ras Tanura oil refinery and oil terminal in Saudi Arabia May 21, 2018. REUTERS/Ahmed Jadallah
FILE PHOTO: General view of Saudi Aramco's Ras Tanura oil refinery and oil terminal in Saudi Arabia May 21, 2018. REUTERS/Ahmed Jadallah
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OPEC+ May Push The Price Of Oil Barrel To Above $50

FILE PHOTO: General view of Saudi Aramco's Ras Tanura oil refinery and oil terminal in Saudi Arabia May 21, 2018. REUTERS/Ahmed Jadallah
FILE PHOTO: General view of Saudi Aramco's Ras Tanura oil refinery and oil terminal in Saudi Arabia May 21, 2018. REUTERS/Ahmed Jadallah

Saudi experts told Asharq Al-Awsat that extending the recent OPEC+ agreement to reduce oil production to the current level of 9.7 million barrels per day for an additional month would contribute to rebalancing the global markets.

They noted that the price of a barrel of oil could rise above $50, provided that countries commit to implement all provisions.

Experts emphasized that the price increase would depend on overcoming the repercussions of the Covid-19 outbreak and restoring the barrel price to the pre-Corona period.

Dr. Rashid Abanmi, an expert in the oil sector, told Asharq Al-Awsat that the expected results of the extension of the OPEC+ agreement were significant, compared to the results of the previous agreement, in which the price of oil reached about $40 per barrel in a very short time.

Therefore, with the extension of the agreement, the price of the barrel is expected to gradually touch the ceiling of $70.

Abanmi linked this increase to four main factors, including the countries’ “commitment, the need for oil, the incentives, and external factors.”

“The agreement depends on mutual trust rather than the presence of a monitoring and inspection mechanism to implement the agreement. This may lead some countries not to commit due to the presence of many incentives in the global markets. Those might increase some of the production quotas that they have committed to, for reasons related to financial needs,” the oil expert told Asharq Al-Awsat.

Abanmi stressed the need to anticipate external factors, such as another wave of coronavirus, which will force countries to completely shut down their economies, or a conflict between two oil-producing countries.

But he expressed hope that stability of the oil markets would be restored if all measures were applied.



Moroccan Utility ONEE Granted $340 Million in Loans for Energy Transition

File photo of a police officer standing near a Moroccan national flag near the main stadium during preparations for the FIFA Club World Cup in Agadir, December 10, 2013. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh
File photo of a police officer standing near a Moroccan national flag near the main stadium during preparations for the FIFA Club World Cup in Agadir, December 10, 2013. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh
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Moroccan Utility ONEE Granted $340 Million in Loans for Energy Transition

File photo of a police officer standing near a Moroccan national flag near the main stadium during preparations for the FIFA Club World Cup in Agadir, December 10, 2013. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh
File photo of a police officer standing near a Moroccan national flag near the main stadium during preparations for the FIFA Club World Cup in Agadir, December 10, 2013. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh

Moroccan water and power utility ONEE said it has been granted 300 million euros ($340 million) in loans from the European Investment Bank (EIB) and German state lender KfW to support integration of renewable energy into the national grid.

The financing package comprises 170 million euros from the EIB and 130 million euros from KfW, the utility said on Friday, adding that the money will be used to expand its electricity transmission network by 730km.

ONEE plans to invest $19 billion in its electricity development plan through 2030, the year Morocco will co-host the World Cup soccer tournament, together with Spain and Portugal.

The plan aims to increase installed renewable energy capacity to 56% of the country's total electricity capacity by 2027, three years ahead of the 2030 target, according to Reuters.

Currently, installed renewable energy capacity stands at 45%, or 5.5GW.

ONEE said it will add 15GW of installed electricity capacity, including 12GW from renewable sources by 2030.

Last week ONEE signed a deal with the United Arab Emirates' TAQA to build a 1,400 km high-voltage transmission line with a capacity of 3,000 megawatts linking Western Sahara’s renewable energy sites to central Morocco.

Coal still accounts for more than 70% of Morocco's energy production.

Seeking to diversify its coal-dependent energy sector, Morocco began in April a tendering process to build a liquefied natural gas terminal in the Mediterranean port of Nador.