Oil prices likely to rule at $45-$50

‘‘The worst scenario is that OPEC cannot help much since it is producing almost at the full capacity,’’ he says. However, he said the government needed to cut the import duty on crude, which is at present around 10 per cent.

The fact that OPEC can do little to ease the pressure was more than amply clear as the Iranian deputy oil minister said on Monday, ‘‘OPEC has done everything it can. There is no extra capacity. Those that consume oil, they should decrease demand, that is the only solution. OPEC is producing at its highest capacity.’’ However, a more optimistic Iraqi export scenario helped oil prices to ease a bit on Tuesday as US light crude fell 10 cents to $45.95 a barrel.

BPCL CMD S. Behuria said, “I do not see much change in the situation.” However, BPCL added that the present duty cuts on the products have come as some respite for the Indian oil companies and the domestic companies have more and less geared up to meet the situation.

Talking to The Indian Express, P. Sughavanam, director (finance) of IOC said, “There would not be any softening of the oil prices in the near future”, while stating that high Chinese and US demand would put more pressure on prices.

According to Dr R. K. Pachauri, director general of TERI, “Global oil situation is bleak and prices would continue to rule high.” Stating that cuts in crude import duties would soften the blow to a certain extent, he added that there was a need to look at long-term solutions in the form of alternative sources of energy.