IEA sees risk of volatile oil prices on weak upstream investment

Riyadh

A DEARTH of new investment in oil production is stoking a risk of tighter crude supply and unstable prices, even as demand growth is expected to slow over the next five years, according to a senior International Energy Agency (IEA) official.

The worldwide cushion of spare production capacity will shrink without further investment in exploration and output, Neil Atkinson, the head of the IEA's oil markets and industry division, said at a conference in Manama, Bahrain.