Middle East Economic Survey

VOL. XLVII

No 33

16-August-2004

WTI Tops $45/B, Brent Passes $42/B As Supply Fears Escalate

Front-month WTI and Brent crudes and the OPEC Basket hit new price highs last week as heightened hostilities in Iraq and bullish US stocks data outweighed Saudi reassurances about supplies. The past week saw another blow to the Iraqi export system as well the major insurgency in Najaf. Moreover on 11 August the IEA published its monthly forecast, in which it estimated that OPECs...