(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) The collapse in global oil prices between June 2014 and January 2016 led to nearly $1 trillion in investment being frozen or discontinued with "many hundreds of thousands of jobs" being lost throughout the industry, according to UAE Minister of Energy and Industry, Suhail bin Mohammed Faraj Faris Al Mazrouei. Now it is time to plan for future investment, he says.
The Minister was addressing the International Petroleum Week conference in London on Tuesday, on the topic 'Return of oil investments to the world market'.
Al Mazrouei, who is also the President of the Opec Conference for 2018, added that spending on exploration and production had fallen by 27 per cent in both 2015 and 2016. At the same time, with low prices, he added: "It was also a period that saw major stock builds, with the OECD stock overhang increasing to a level of 380 million barrels above the five-year average at the end of July 2016."
With the oil market being out of balance, "there was a necessity for action to alleviate this imbalance," he said. These developments, which he described as a "devastating cycle," led to the efforts by Opec to reach out to non-Opec producers.
Following consultations, with what he described as a focus "on rebalancing the global oil market; and, over time, ensuring that the necessary investments return to our industry, to mitigate future volatility," 24 Opec and non-Opec producers had reached the 'Declaration of Cooperation' at the end of 2016. It was renewed for a further year, with the participation of 6 more countries in November 2017, he recalled. - Wam
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