Oil demand could exceed supply within a few years - Novak
VIENNA. June 3 (Interfax) - An oil supply shortfall could emerge on the market within a few years, Energy Minister Alexander Novak said at the international OPEC seminar in Vienna on June 3-4.
The current situation, in which supply exceeds demand, is the result of major investment made when oil prices were high. The question is how long this reserve lasts given the changed prices - lower prices have already led to serious cuts in investment in the sector.
Production projects on the shelf, in the Arctic and oil sand projects are the most vulnerable to lower prices. These and other frozen projects were to have provided over half of the increase in global oil production by 2030. "As a result, an oil supply shortfall could emerge with the next few years, when the projects that haven't been launched yet were to begin producing," Novak said.
However, the sector adapts to price fluctuations and other changes on the oil market, he said.
Meanwhile, the green energy sector, which it is hoped will reduce the reliance of developed economies on hydrocarbons, is unlikely to help, given the lower prices on traditional forms of energy and the many technological problems that remain unresolved.