Azerbaijan, Baku, March 30 / Trend /
Petroleo Brasileiro SA expects oil to keep rising in coming years after conflicts in Libya and across the Middle East sent the price to above $100 a barrel, Bloomberg reported according to the Chief Financial Officer Almir Barbassa.
Crude, which gained 0.8 percent to close at $104.79 a barrel in New York yesterday, is unlikely to drop back to the levels it traded at before the conflict in Libya, Barbassa said. Crude averaged about $81 a barrel in the year through mid- February, when conflicts escalated in Libya, Bahrain and Yemen.
"The price floor for oil has increased," Barbassa said yesterday at the Bloomberg Brazil Economic Summit in Sao Paulo. "The trend is for rising prices."
Oil has surged 24 percent since Feb. 15 and touched a 29- month high on March 7 amid concern that escalating unrest in Libya and the Middle East would further cut output. Oil exports from Libya, home to Africa's largest reserves, may be curbed for months because of sanctions and damage to production facilities, the International Energy Agency said March 15.
Petrobras based its $224 billion investment plan for 2010 to 2014 on an average oil price of $80 a barrel. Going forward, oil is likely to stay above $85 a barrel, Chief Executive Officer Jose Sergio Gabrielli said yesterday at a conference in Uruguay.
Petrobras boosted its cash holdings to $35 billion from $27 billion at the start of the year, Barbassa said yesterday.