Saudi Arabia: $60 Oil This Year Is Not 'Unthinkable'

Oil prices have risen to near the $50 per barrel level from the low-$40s after OPEC members reached a tentative agreement to reduce their oil output.

Even though details of the agreement have yet to be fully communicated, and some analysts aren't optimistic on a deal occurring in the first place, the price of oil could rise a further $10 a barrel this year.

Related Link: IHS Markit's Dan Yergin: OPEC Only Reached An 'Agreement To Agree'

According to Bloomberg, Saudi Arabia's government is willing to work with its fellow oil producing nations to finalize an agreement by the end of November. The country's Energy Minister, Khalid Al-Falih, will also meet with non-OPEC members such as Russia who have expressed a desire to cooperate.

Speaking at the World Energy Congress in Istanbul, Al-Falih said that it is "not unthinkable that we could see $60 [a barrel] oil by year-end."

Al-Falih's comments confirm yet again a new shift in Saudi Arabia's oil policy from one of producing as much as possible and flooding the market to taking a different approach and boosting the commodity's price higher.

Al-Falih also said in Istanbul that OPEC's agreement needs to accommodate Libya and Nigeria, which are looking to regain lost output due to ongoing violence in the country. He made no mention of Iran, which is also looking to boost output but to regain lost output following years of economic sanctions.

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