Gazprom boss Aleksei Miller: oil to reach 250 USD/barrel "soon"

Gazprom CEO Aleksei Miller said on Wednesday that the price of oil would „soon” exceed the 250 USD/barrel threshold, according to international news agencies. The same Miller announced natural gas prices sold by Gazprom to Western Europe may reach 500 USD per thousand cubic meters by the end of 2008, as compared to 370 USD in March this year.

Miller’s statement comes only days after Robert Hirsch, one of the most reputed oil market analysts, has told CNBC that it was possible that oil price reach 500 USD/barrel in the next 3-5 years.

Miller told Financial Times recently that the current period was one of structural changes on the energy market which would translate into radically changed prices.

Miller made the Wednesday statements in Azerbaijan after talks between the Russian and Azeri presidents.