By Tara Patel
Dec. 10 (Bloomberg) -- A further decline in global oil prices may delay or halt investment in exploration and production projects, according to Fatih Birol, chief economist of the International Energy Agency.
“If prices were to go lower, investments could be delayed or canceled and we would pay the cost in the future,” Birol said today at a conference in Paris. “We could get a supply crunch.”
Birol urged OPEC countries, meeting next week in Algeria, “to consider the fragile situation of the global economy today” and noted the need for $80 oil to ensure the viability of “marginal” production such as deep offshore projects.
Members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries are scheduled to meet Dec. 17 to discuss output quotas in a bid to bolster oil prices, which have slumped almost 70 percent since reaching a record in July.
To contact the reporter on this story: Tara Patel in Paris at tpatel2@bloomberg.net.
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