Rigzone-Oil-Traders-See-Oil “The issue is that once prices go up...

Rigzone-Oil-Traders-See-Oil

“The issue is that once prices go up too fast, American drillers start to produce more,” Arzu Azimov, head of Socar Trading SA, said. “The market will stay in the corridor of $40 to $50, max $55.”

“The oil market isn’t yet balanced," Saad Rahim, chief economist at oil trading house Trafigura Group Pte. said. “The market has yet to start working through millions of barrels of inventories accumulated during the downturn.”

Oil prices are likely to stay around current levels "for the next two years,” said Christoph Ruehl, chief economist at the $800 billion Abu Dhabi Investment Authority. Abu Dhabi produces most the oil in the United Arab Emirates, OPEC’s fourth-ranked producer.

Freezing output would have a limited impact on prices with the biggest producers pumping at close to record levels. Higher prices over the coming months would require production cuts to change supply and demand balances. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries could also lose credibility with too much talk and no action.