Oil prices could easily soar above $100 a barrel as OPEC+ members face off over production, former US energy secretary says

• Oil prices could very easily rocket above $100 a barrel after OPEC+ talks collapsed, an ex-US energy secretary said.
• Dan Brouillette also said prices could just as easily plunge, if countries ramp up production on their own.
• OPEC+ talks ended in acrimony on Monday after the United Arab Emirates disagreed with the production plans.

Oil prices could rocket above $100 a barrel in the wake of the collapse of production talks between the OPEC+ group of oil producing countries, former US energy secretary Dan Brouillette said on Tuesday.

"You could very easily see oil hitting $100 a barrel, potentially even higher," Brouillette told CNBC. He also said there was an equal chance that prices could plummet.

Brent crude oil rose to its highest level since the fall of 2018, before slipping back to $76.79 a barrel as of 7.47 a.m. ET. WTI crude - the US benchmark price - rose 0.78% to $75.75 a barrel, also a three-year high.

Prices jumped after talks between the OPEC group of oil producing countries and its allies were dramatically called off.

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Reports said the United Arab Emirates was unhappy with the planned level of production increases and the way that targets would be measured, leading to a rift with Saudi Arabia and Russia.

However, Brouillette said there was an equal chance of prices plunging as a result of the group's members launching price wars by ramping up production on their own.

"If there isn't any agreement on production, and countries tend to go off and... do their own production, you could have a collapse of oil prices," Brouillette, who was energy secretary under President Donald Trump from 2019 to 2021, said.

Oil prices crashed as the pandemic took hold in 2020, but have recently rebounded as economies reopened and OPEC+ held down production levels. Prices were last above $100 in 2014.

Louise Dickson, oil markets analyst at Rystad Energy, said: "Oil prices are rising further today, as the breakdown in OPEC+ negotiations is making the possibility of not adding output in August very real."

"The situation can still change of course and prices can normalize as unofficial talks are always ongoing and there could be a sudden breakthrough, but the lack of an official new meeting date is worrying the market."