Gazprom’s bravado about $250 a barrel oil conceals output jitters

It wasn’t the number that shocked, or even that it was a very big number. Analysts have been issuing scary oil price predictions for some months now and Goldman Sachs recently plumped for $200 (U.S.) per barrel. What was unnerving about this week’s frightening number was that it was Gazprom, the world’s biggest utility, that was touting the notion that the oil price would reach $250 per barrel, probably next year.

The Russian gas company’s public pronouncements are normally dull, bombastic declarations about Gazproms’ strength and power, followed by a litany of its giant projects.

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