President of Russian oil major Lukoil Vagit Alekperov believes that the temporary decline in oil prices was caused by speculators on the market and fears its sharp growth.
"We all, including analysts and organizations, believe that this is because of speculators. The oil market is growing. We have increased our sales on the market of European oil products. The US market is growing, the reserves are decreasing, according to OPEC. The fact that today the price is falling, this is because of the presence of speculators," he told reporters, stressing that stability of prices is important for the company.
"Of course, we fear that there can be a sharp growth in the future, we need a stable price that allows us to form our investment program and encourages consumers to burn our fuel," TASS cited Alekperov as saying.
Lukoil President noted that the lawyers are still studying the possible expansion of the sanctions list by the United States and so far they do not see any consequences for the company.
"Our lawyers are now studying new sanctions. It is all very vague. So far they have not been able to give us a specific analytical comments, according to their preliminary report we have no restrictions," he added.
