IEA chief sees oil prices rebound in second half of 2017

[LISBON] The International Energy Agency expects oil prices to rebound next year and the market rebalance itself, Fatih Birol, IEA's executive director, said on Wednesday.

"We are not a party to the Doha meeting discussions, but what we can say is that we expect at least in 2017 oil prices to rebound and market to rebalance," he told reporters in Lisbon. He added later the rebound should be in the later part of the year.

Mr Birol earlier told a conference an unprecedented decline in investment in new oil projects for the second year in a row meant that reliance for crude imports on the Middle East, where new investment is still viable with oil at US$40 a barrel, will increase substantially during a period of instability there.

REUTERS