Victor Shum, senior VP of Purvin & Gertz believes that crude is likely to touch $80/bbl in the short-term. He also says that the West Asia tension will keep crude prices high, alongwith hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico.

Excerpts from CNBC-TV18's exclusive interview with Victor Shum:

Sum up the situation and whether you expect crude to go up to $80 plus?

I think $80 seems quite inevitable in the near-term future. The geopolitical storms that have caused the new records today look like they won't be resolved anytime soon.

These geopolitical events alongwith a tight global market is showing very healthy demand growth, which will keep prices high. So I expect to see $80 in the short term. We yet haven't  encountered our first hurricane in this season for the Atlantic ocean. Therefore, later on in summer in the midst of all these geopolitical events, if we have a hurricane hitting Gulf of Mexico, then the pricing could surge ahead even more.

So in the intermediate term what sort of band do you see crude trading in?

In the intermediate band, we expect to see the crude in 70's type of band. I expect that some of the current excitement caused by the tensions in Middle East may die down a bit and on an average I do expect strong prices in the current quarter and the next quarter.

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