January 19, 2018, 14:33 / Economics

Dvorkovic did not rule out the price of oil

The trend of rising oil prices is unstable and the market could go down at any moment, says Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich.

“The oil market has been and remains very volatile, so it is difficult to talk about the sustainability of the trend [increasing oil prices]. It is clear that at such prices many projects for the extraction of shale oil from hard-to-recover reserves are once again becoming profitable. Therefore, prices may go down at some point,” Dvorkovich told reporters (quotes from Interfax).

Answering the question whether it is possible for oil prices to fall to critically low levels, Dvorkovich said that “this is unlikely, but, as history shows, nothing can be ruled out.”

Analysts doubt the sustainability of the bullish trend in the oil market

US shale production rises as tensions in the Middle East ease

He noted that the decision on Russia’s further participation in the OPEC+ deal to limit oil production will be made based on the results of monitoring the market situation in late spring - early summer, as planned by the Ministry of Energy.

March futures for Brent oil on Friday on the London ICE exchange are trading near $68.9 per barrel, February futures for WTI cost about $63.6.