Opec optimistic on demand, calls for more oil and gas investment

THE ORGANIZATION of the Petroleum Exporting Countries is optimistic on demand and sees under-investment as a risk to energy security, secretary-general Haitham al-Ghais said on Monday (Oct 2) at an energy industry event in Abu Dhabi.

He stressed the importance of continued investment in the oil and gas industry, and said calls to stop investing in oil were counterproductive.

“We still see oil demand as quite resilient this year, as it was last year,” al-Ghais said, noting the group’s forecast was for year-on-year demand growth of more than 2.3 million barrels per day (bpd).

He added that investment in the oil and gas sector was important for energy security.

“We are...running quite low on spare capacity, we have said this repeatedly and this requires a concerted effort by all stakeholders to see the importance of investing in this industry,” the secretary general said.

The call was echoed by the United Arab Emirates’ energy minister, Suhail Al Mazrouei, who said investment by both international and national oil companies was needed.

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“And these investments need the financial world to be willing to finance oil and gas,” he added.

Al Mazrouei later told reporters that his country is on track to expand oil production capacity to 5 million bpd by 2027, from 4.2 million bpd currently. REUTERS