ConocoPhillips CEO Sees Positives with Crude at $70/Barrel

ConocoPhillips CEO James Mulva said Wednesday that rising oil prices are an encouraging sign the economy is improving and could help spur new investment by the oil and gas industry after a global recession put a chill on activity in recent months.

But prices may need to go higher still before ConocoPhillips boosts its spending again in the Oil Patch.

Longer term, an oil price in the neighborhood of $70 is “a good enough price for us to be making investments to replace our resources and grow production,” he told reporters after the company’s annual stockholder meeting in Houston.

Earlier this week, the price of crude oil topped $60 a barrel for the first time since November. But on Wednesday, the price dropped 83 cents to close at $58.02 dollars a barrel. That’s up from this year’s low near $30 a barrel in February but still far down from a record $147.27 last July.

Houston Chronicle