Oil prices to ease - IEA chief

PRICE EASE: Oil prices should ease in coming months, the head of the international energy agency (IEA) has said. (Getty Images)

Oil prices should ease in coming months but extreme weather conditions and labour disputes in the industry could create new supply bottlenecks, the head of the international energy agency (IEA) said on Monday.

However, no dramatic bottlenecks were to be expected between now and 2010 because oil supply was relatively generous compared to demand, IEA Executive Director Nobuo Tanaka said at an event on renewable energy sources in Berlin.

But after 2010, and above all after 2013, the situation would become more difficult because there was no immediate prospect of new reserves coming on to the market and this would affect prices, he added.

"The era of low prices is over," he said.

Oil fell more than $3 a barrel on Monday to just over $100, pressured by gains in the US dollar as well as mounting evidence of damage to Europe's economies from the financial crisis.

Falls in demand in the United States and other developed economies have contributed to oil's drop from a record high of $147.27 a barrel in July. (Reuters)

Print | Email | Discuss this article |

READERS' COMMENTS

View all comments (0)

Have your say

Click here to post a comment

Add your Comment All posts are sent to the administrator for review and are published only after approval. ArabianBusiness.com reserves the right to remove any comment at any time for any reason. Please keep your responses appropriate and on topic.
Name *
Remember me on this computer
Email *	(Your email address will not be published)
City
Country
Subject *
Comment *
Notify me of further comments
Security Code *
Please click post only once - your comment will not be published immediately.

MORE FROM ARABIANBUSINESS.COM