Kudrin: oil might go to $150-$200 | beyondbrics – FT.com

What does Alexei Kudrin (pictured), Russia’s finance minister, know about the oil market that the rest of us don’t? The answer might be quite significant since he is predicting a possible oil price surge to between $150 and $200 a barrel.

According to Bloomberg, Kudrin told a Moscow conference on Wednesday that turmoil in the Middle East and the nuclear disaster in Japan would drive up oil although “the growth will be speculative and short-lived”. As Russia’s the world’s largest oil producer, Kudrin is well placed to venture an opinion. But government ministers are rarely experts at forecasting markets.

At least Kudrin is in good company with the IEA, the international energy agency, on Wednesday issuing a monthly report warning of an “oil price shock”.