Algerian Energy Minister Mustapha Guitouni said Monday that the oil price will stabilize despite geopolitical problems prevailing in some oil-producing areas.
The oil price will stand at around 75 to 80 U.S. dollars a barrel, Guitouni was quoted by the National Radio as saying.
"There are geopolitical problems in some oil-producing regions, but fortunately they are likely to be solved," he said.
His remarks were in response to fears that the oil price could collapse again amid reports that Russia and Saudi Arabia would decide to raise their oil outputs.
Guitouni recalled that there has been an agreement between OPEC and non-OPEC member states in September 2016 to reduce oil production by 1.8 million barrels per day and it remains valid until the end of the current year.
U.S. President Donald Trump announced on May 8 to pull out of the Iranian nuclear deal, while vowing to re-impose tough sanctions on the oil-rich Iran.
Abdelmadjid Attar, former CEO of the Algerian energy giant Sonatrach, told Xinhua last month that the U.S. decision would rather stabilize the oil price at current levels for the upcoming three or six months."
Attar said the decision will have geopolitical and geo-economic impact rather than affecting oil price, "simply because the oil price is no more dictated by classical fundamentals, given that the world is constantly consuming lesser oil."
