Saudis predict $29 oil price in 2016 - report

Saudi Arabia’s 2016 budget is allegedly based on an average crude price of about $29 per barrel, Bloomberg reports, quoting Riyadh-based Jadwa Investment.

On Monday, Riyadh posted its next budget for next year that will see a $36 billion cut in spending, based on a $87 billion deficit. 

As of 8am GMT, Brent benchmark was trading at $36.75 per barrel, while US crude West Texas Intermediate stood at $36.91.

In December, OPEC de facto abandoned its output limits to continue cornering the global market and ousting high-cost oil producers. Brent, the benchmark for more than half the world’s oil, is set for the lowest annual average price in 11 years, hurting energy exporting countries and companies.

Saudi Arabia, the leading country in the cartel, is regarded by many as the main plotter of the crude price collapse. According to Russia’s Energy Minister Aleksandr Novak, Saudi Arabia has destabilized the crude market by increasing its oil output to the tune of 1.5 million barrels a day.

"This year Saudi Arabia has ramped up production by 1.5 million barrels per day, which in fact destabilized the situation on the market," Novak said Monday.

On Monday, Saudi Arabia announced a record high $98 billion budget deficit. The country’s earnings in 2016 are forecast at $137 billion, $25 billion down from 2015. This year's original budget plan projected revenues of almost $191 billion.