Oil for the economy.

Byline: Khalil Ahmed

It was way back in 2014 and 2015 when global oil prices decelerated from $114 per barrel to $27 per barrel. It was a monumental news for the oil importing countries whereas the oil exporting countries saw their economic growth flagging with every passing day with downtick in oil revenue. Pakistan economy did not seem geared up to take fullest advantage from the situation, to the detriment of the masses. Kudos to the then economic managers.

The prevalent situation across the world indicates that the oil prices are deemed to remain subdued for various reasons. The good news are the would-be, to be precise, peaceful solution of myriads of conflicts globally. The war in Yemen seems to be culminating with peaceful dialogue and better ties among the neighboring countries. Saudi Arabia and Iran might be moving to resolve long-standing issues with dialogue resulting in peace in the region. USA-China trade war is expected to end in the not-too-distant future.

The dismal economic growth of China recently might reduce oil import to the world's largest crude importer. China's economic growth slowed to 6.2% recently which is the weakest pace in at least 27 years for the second largest economy of the world.

Iran might be exporting more and more oil despite the USA sanctions and the USA might be softening its pressure to ensure that Iran and the USA enjoy cordial relations for the betterment of the world peace. There are news of unabated purchase of Iranian oil by India and China which seems to have satiated the requirement of these two economies, which are among the top five economies of the world.

The oil production in the USA and Russia is at its pinnacle creating whopping reserves. It is being presumed that Saudi Arabia, Russia and the USA seem to have crossed the 11 million bpd mark creating behemoth reserves to the benefit of the oil importers. Venezuela and Nigeria might be tackling the domestic untoward events leading to the spike in the crude production. Conflict resolution in Syria seems to be on the cards which could help Syria enhance its oil producing capacity since it is the only country in the Eastern Mediterranean region with terrific oil reserves. Besides, the environmental pressures globally are taking toll on the crude producing countries. There are signs of weak global...