Oil above $100 was ‘unsustainable’ risk to economy: Barkindo Rise in U.S. rigs unlikely to boost output or hurt price: OPEC Oil’s climb above $100 a barrel before prices crashed in 2014 was driven by “abnormal” conditions that couldn’t last, according to OPEC’s new Secretary-General. The “skyrocketing of prices” that pushed crude as high as $147 in 2008 was “unsustainable” and probably harmful to the global economy, Mohammed Barkindo said in the group’s monthly Bulletin. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries will continue to work with other oil producers and consumers to find the commodity’s “elusive fair price,” he said. Oil surged above $100 as climbing demand, political risks to supply and a weakening dollar lured speculators to bet on ever-rising prices. After slumping in the financial crisis of 2008, prices recovered to trade near $100 until summer 2014, when a glut caused by booming U.S. shale supply sent […]