Gold could hit $1,600 if oil soars - Gold Fields CEO

The price of gold could hit $1,600 an ounce if crude oil goes to $100 a barrel in the next six to 18 months, the chief executive of South Africa's Gold Fields (GFIJ.J), the world's No. 4 gold producer, said on Wednesday at the Denver gold conference.

"Some people say oil is going up to $100 a barrel in the next six to 18 months. If that's true, and if you look at the long-term relationship between gold and oil, you should find that gold would go to $1,500 to $1,600," Nick Holland told Reuters in an interview during the Denver Gold Forum.    

"The bias is more to the upside than the downside at this stage."

Gold (XAU=) hit an 18-month high on Wednesday, rising above $1,020 an ounce as the dollar's slide to 2009 lows against the euro sparked buying of the metal as a hedge against currency risks.

Oil was trading at just below $72 a barrel. Gold is often used as a hedge against inflation, and because of that, oil and gold have typically moved in the same direction.

Asked what gold north of the $1,000 level meant for gold producers, Holland said "It just means that we make more money."