Oil price fall is temporary, says Saudi minister

Recent falls in the price of oil are likely to be temporary, says the oil minister for Saudi Arabia, Opec's biggest producing nation

Ali al-Naimi said commodity price fluctuations were to be expected and said he was hopeful for the future.

He added it was "difficult, or even impossible, for Saudi Arabia or Opec to undertake any measure that would lead to a reduction in [their] share of the market and an increase in of others".

The price of oil has halved since June.

On Thursday, the price of Brent crude was just below $63 a barrel, while US crude was near $58.

Oil prices, which were

Oil keeps sliding on oversupply fears

The price of oil has hit another five-year low as fears of oversupply continue to mount.

Brent crude was down $1.77 at $67.30 a barrel in Monday afternoon trading, having earlier hit $66.77 - its lowest since October 2009.

US crude was down $1.44 at $64.40, after falling as low as $64.14.

Morgan Stanley predicted that Brent would average $70 a barrel in 2015, down $28 from a previous forecast, and be $88 a barrel in 2016.

The investment bank also said that oil prices could fall as low

Brent rebounds above $71 in turbulent oil market

Brent rose to $71 a barrel yesterday, recovering some of its losses from the previous session as a turbulent market searched for a price floor after a nearly 40 percent fall since June. Oil has seen choppy trade since the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) said last week it would not lower output despite an oversupplied market.

Brent hit a five-year low below $68 a barrel on Monday after averaging around

Nigeria faces N1.3 trillion spending gap at $70 oil

Nigeria faces the negative prospects of a N1.3 trillion cut in government spending next year, if oil prices trade at an average of $70 per barrel in 2015, unless the government chooses to spike bond issuances and widen the deficit to maintain spending close to this year’s level.

With Brent crude averaging $103 dollars per barrel so far in 2014, Nigeria’s gross Federal Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) budgetary disbursements to the three tiers of government was equivalent to N6.359 trillion between January and October 2014.

Nigeria’s Bonny Light trades at a slight premium to Brent.

Calculations show that

Oil steadies below $73 after hitting five-year low

Brent crude oil steadied below $73 a barrel yesterday, although Russian and Nigerian currencies remained under pressure on persistent doubts over their central banks’ ability to provide support.

With Brent crude trading at about $72, breaking a five-day losing streak, the rouble staged a brief rally but headed lower again, losing 1.4 percent against the dollar.

naira-Dollar

Unease is growing about the Russian central bank’s absence from