Iraqi bitumen

Since Iraq has a large portion of the global oil and bitumen, we have decided to bring some pieces of news of Iraqi bitumen.

Respectively, the first one is

the fact that the market has put pressure on OPEC Plus to raise production.

Market pressure on OPEC Plus to increase production of Iraqi bitumen

“The wounds of falling prices last year should teach us to be careful,” the

minister told traders and analysts as he warned them about forecasting

an increase in OPEC Plus production. Despite rising prices and the fact,

that many traders predict that we will face a severe oil shortage later this

year, the Saudi oil minister called for a cautious approach to increasing production, according to news agencies. “We are much better off than last

year, but I have to warn you again about this satisfaction,” he said in a speech

on Wednesday. “Market instability is very high and we have to be very vigilant. “Generally speaking, with the success of vaccines and their announcement

in early November, markets expect supply shortages, with Brent crude

rising more than $25, or 65 percent, in three months.

* OPEC Plus & the Iraqi bitumen

To be more specific, the dispute between the Saudi oil minister and traders

over the forecast of a balance between oil production and consumption at

this point in the oil price cycle has a long history and is natural. On the

other hand, Saudi Arabia and other OPEC oil producers, as well as its allies

such as Russia, called OPEC Plus, tend to be pessimistic about rising demand. It’s also good to mention that part of the reason for this pessimism is that they

fear a return to falling oil prices and revenues, at a time when memories of

falling oil prices are still fresh. “The wounds of what happened last year

should teach us to be careful,” the Saudi oil minister said on February 17. However, at the same time, producers have financial incentives that

can, along with caution, lead them to make mistakes.

Iraqi bitumen and the prices

As mentioned before, rising prices are in the interest of governments’

financial condition in the short run, even if it again creates conditions for

excess production and falling prices in the long run. Therefore, it is only

natural that OPEC should be cautious about increasing production at this

stage of the price cycle, even if prices go up and stocks fall. Additionally, slowly increasing production by OPEC usually causes oil reserves to fall below

average and prices to rise. Nevertheless, when non-OPEC producers

increase production, prices fall. “Do not try to predict what is unpredictable,”

the Saudi oil minister warned traders and analysts this week as they

try to predict OPEC Plus’s reaction to recent oil price hikes.

The UN agency predictions and the Iraqi bitumen

As a matter of fact, a United Nations agency said in a report that we expect

the global trade recovery to slow in the first quarter of this year (2021) due

to the continuing corona outbreak. In 2020, world trade fell by about nine

percent, and the prevalence of corona and aviation disruption has continued

to this day. To put it differently, the UN agency predicts that in the first quarter

of 2021, trade in goods will decrease by 1.5 percent compared to the last

quarter of last year; in the services sector, they project this reduction at 7%. This prediction, of course, could change due to the uncertainty of the virus’s

behavior and spread, and the support packages that governments may offer.

In addition to the above, the United Nations Conference on Trade

and Development – a United Nations intergovernmental organization –

said in a report that in the first half of last year, when trade and travel

were severe, world trade fell by about 15 percent, but in the second half Improved. In fact, in the last quarter of last year,

world trade improved by 8% compared to the third quarter of this year. Moreover, this improvement can be large to developing countries, especially

East Asia; Trade in goods originating in these countries in the last quarter

of the year (compared to the third quarter of 2019) had improved by

about 12 percent.

Buy bitumen 85/100

Iraq bitumen and the exports rates

We have declared the East Asia economy a leader in the recovery process

due to significant export growth. It is also needless to mention that in the

fourth quarter of last year, with the exception of the energy and

transportation sectors, most of the manufacturing sectors saw improvements. The United Nations says countries such as China and, to some extent,

India have performed better than other countries in exporting services, respectively.

Recent developments, meanwhile, have boosted vaccine prospects for

the coming months. Roughly speaking, Brent crude hit $61 a barrel in

global trading on Wednesday (February 10); Oil prices are now at their

highest level since the start of the global coronavirus epidemic in a year. With

air travel declining due to corona-related restrictions and border closures,

air traffic has fallen by about 70 percent since last year,

according to the International Air Transport Association.

However, with the increase in online shopping due to numerous quarantines,

fuel demand increased to some extent due to the increase in the volume of

goods transfers. Notwithstanding, oil demand is still far from normal

market conditions; The International Energy Agency said last month

that a slowdown in the economy could delay demand for oil to return

to previous years for years.

 

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