EIA’s Cook: Oil Price Has Seen Its Lows, Will Set New Record

Oil prices will set new record highs during the second half of the year, as demand growth chips away at spare production capacity and oil inventories until there isn’t enough to cover an unexpected supply hiccup, the U.S. Department of Energy’s top oil statistician said.

In an interview late Thursday, John Cook, director of the petroleum division of the DOE’s Energy Information Administration, said OPEC needs to maintain output at high levels to keep prices from spiraling out of control.

“I think we will see new records, not necessarily by much, but I think we may even average $60 for a month,” Cook said. “The demand growth is going to be there, and the inventory surpluses we have are pretty paltry to begin with, and they are going to disappear. We are not going to have much spare capacity at all in the fourth quarter.”
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