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Annual Report 2013 www.recope.com
Another significant international event that affected
prices during this term happened at the end of the year, due
to a holding period in the refineries in the month of October,
which resulted in an increase of the stock levels of crude oil in
the United States. However, the year closed with a negative
balance with regards to the year 2012, upon totaling crude oil
inventories plus distillates.
Added to the above is the impact of the global
economic situation. For the year 2013, economic data
showed a slow but sustained growth, with numbers mainly
strengthened by China and India’s economic statistics for the
end of the year.
Social and political events
Twopolitical events in theUnited States represented
important moments for international prices, known as “fiscal
sequester” at the beginning of the year and a United States
Federal Goverment shutdown of 2013 in said country by the
month of October.
Various events in the Middle East resulted in a price
increase for crude oil, mainly geopolitical events and social
unrest in Nigeria, Libya, Iran and Syria.
In Libya, one of the major oil producing countries
for OPEP, the internal conflicts caused damages to pipelines,