據能源網1月17日迪拜報道，全球最大的獨立石油貿易商維多表示，由于供應緊張，今年已經上漲逾10%的原油價格可能會進一步上漲。

維多集團亞洲業務主管邁克·穆勒周日表示，這些價格是合理的。提及一種看漲模式，即近期期貨比以后的期貨更貴時，他表示，強勁的現貨溢價是非常合理的。

上周，石油價格連續第四個交易日上漲，這是自去年10月以來最長的一次上漲。因為有跡象顯示，盡管冠狀病毒的奧密克戎變種在蔓延，但石油消費仍將保持增長。與此同時，隨著一些全球最大的產油國正在努力提高產量，閑置產能正在減少。

布倫特原油價格今年已躍升11%至每桶86美元以上，延續了去年50%的漲幅。

Muller表示，雖然天然氣價格已經上漲到足以導致包括巴基斯坦和歐洲在內的一些工業用戶減少消費的程度，但石油市場還沒有達到這一水平。

他在迪拜咨詢公司 Gulf Intelligence 舉辦的網絡研討會上表示，天然氣的現狀“提醒我們，人們在某個時候會放棄購買昂貴的能源”。問題是在什么時候影響石油市場。

美國戰略儲備油

穆勒稱，白宮可能會從其戰略石油儲備中釋放出比去年11月宣布的5000萬桶更多的石油。美國總統拜登(Joe Biden)采取這一措施是為了降低汽油價格。目前美國汽油價格處于七年來的最高水平。

當被問及供應問題時，穆勒稱，市場說:請更多。

郝芬 譯自 能源網

原文如下:

Brent Oil Near Highest Since 2014, Vitol Sees Further Gains

The world’s biggest independent oil trader said crude prices — already up more than 10% this year — could rise even more because of tight supplies.

“These prices are justified,” Mike Muller, head of Asia for Vitol Group, said Sunday. “Strong backwardation is very much justified,” he said, referring to a bullish pattern whereby near-term futures are more expensive than later ones.

Oil posted a fourth-straight gain last week, its longest rising streak since October, amid signs consumption will hold up despite the spread of the omicron variant of the coronavirus. At the same time, spare capacity is dwindling as some of the world’s biggest producers struggle to boost output.

Brent crude has jumped 11% this year to over $86 a barrel, extending last year’s gain of 50%.

Muller said that while natural gas prices have climbed enough to cause some industrial users — including in Pakistan and Europe — to cut back on consumption, the oil market hadn’t reached that point.

What’s happening with gas “serves to remind us that people will abstain from buying expensive energy at some point,” he said on a webinar hosted by Dubai-based consultancy Gulf Intelligence. “The question is at what point that affects the oil market.”

U.S. Reserves

The White House will probably release more oil from its Strategic Petroleum Reserve than the 50 million barrels it announced in November, Muller said. President Joe Biden took that step to cool gasoline prices, which are around their highest in seven years in the U.S.

“The market’s saying: ‘More, please,’” Muller said when asked about supplies.