*Osama Suleiman from Vienna
Crude oil prices continue to record good and consecutive gains to reach $ 67 yesterday, as oil experts and analysts stressed that the energy companies face the current strong challenges is the speed of making appropriate investment decisions in the volatile market,
They stressed the need to study the appropriate opportunities and choose the least risk and the most closely related to its success.
The experts pointed out that despite the efforts of the OPEC producers' alliance and outside to restore stability in the market, but the volatility of prices and changes in the level of supply and geopolitical factors are all of the most important challenges facing investors in the crude oil industry.
The specialists pointed out that the absence of a clear vision of developments in the situation in the oil market will not prevent the adoption of the right investment decisions that come within the framework of studies and expectations accurate of the supply-and-demand relationship with a focus on winning promising investment opportunities, which OPEC already gives a high priority.
They stressed that crude oil prices continue to receive strong support from the efforts to reduce production carried out by OPEC countries and outside, which have largely succeeded in phasing out supply in the markets.
These efforts boosted the positive outlook for demand growth, especially in the United States and China, the world's two biggest economies.
They pointed out that broader gains could be achieved in the market had it not been for the fast-growing growth of US supplies and concerns about the global economic growth that has dominated the market since the United States and China
They pointed out that prices would nevertheless receive a boost from the voluntary reduction of Saudi crude oil exports in April, as well as the decline in Venezuelan production, which jumped Brent crude prices to $ 67 a barrel.
Dan Bosca, chief analyst at British bank UniCredit, said that the development of investments is urgent and necessary for the crude oil industry, especially taking into account the slowdown and the extensive investment downturn that hit the industry over the past several years, specifically since the collapse of prices in the second half of 2014.
He stressed the need to focus on long-term investments to secure the supply of oil for years to come, especially with rapid population growth and increased energy needs and accelerated demand, especially in emerging economies.
He added, "From there, we see the importance of a future vision to put the market and the realization that the current supply glut may not last long, specifically in light of the desire of the OPEC producers' alliance and beyond to speed treatment."
For his part, David de Ledesma, an analyst at South-Court of energy consulting, told the Economist that the process of global energy transformations until 2040 will witness many influential variables.
He pointed out that so far there is no accurate vision of the nature of those variables and the main uncertainties surrounding this transition is uncertain.
He stressed the importance of focusing on the development of investments in oil and gas widely as it continues to be a major source of energy in the world.
Moreover, the improvement in living standards is driving a large increase in global demand for energy.
Mechanisms to meet this demand over the coming decades will certainly come from a variety of supplies including oil, gas, coal and renewable energy.
For its part, Dr. Nagendra Komendantova, chief analyst of the International Institute for Energy Conservation, told the Economist that in the next phase, energy companies are required to adopt unique investment policies that are appropriate to current challenges, including overcoming the consequences of geopolitical factors and the treatment of sudden drops in the supply of energy resources, especially crude oil, e.g., the production situation in Iran, Venezuela and Libya.
She pointed out the importance of corporate strategies to focus on setting clear priorities and preparing a portfolio management of high quality, efficiency and good employability.
She considered that as is vital and is a top priority in order to create additional shareholder value, increase free cash flow and support long-term distributions.
In turn, Nina Enegebugo, a competent international arbitration and Russian analyst, explained to the Economist that crude oil prices are on track to reap gradual gains as there is a large growth in total energy demand in general.
She noted that the strongest growth is already concentrated in natural gas and renewable energy resources, therefore, requires more large investments in these resources.
She stressed the importance of focusing on increasing upstream projects and developing new resources of various types of energy in order to secure the future needs of consumers and ensure a stable market and appropriate energy prices for producers, consumers and companies to ensure the continuation and success of investment growth.
In terms of prices, oil prices rose yesterday to about $ 67 a barrel, backed by Saudi Arabia's planned supply cut in April and Venezuela's exports fell due to power cuts.
According to "Reuters", at 11:25 GMT, Brent crude rose 54 cents to $ 67.12 a barrel, while the US WTI crude rose 47 cents to $ 57.26 a barrel.
"This shows Saudi Arabia's determination to keep the oil market balanced by curbing oil supplies," said Carsten Frisch, analyst at Commerzbank, "as additional support came from reports that large-scale power cuts in Venezuela were hampering oil exports."
Crude rose this year after OPEC and producers from outside Russia, in the framework of the OPEC + alliance cut supplies from the beginning of January, and since then Brent has risen 25 percent.
OPEC crude basket rose $ 66.01 a barrel yesterday, against $ 64.78 a barrel the previous day.
The daily report of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries "OPEC" yesterday emphasized that the price of the basket, which includes the average prices of 14 tons of production by the member states of the Organization, achieved the first rise after a previous decline.
The basket also gained about two dollars compared to the same day last week, which recorded 64.86 dollars a barrel.
