Opec expects an oil future with smoother sailing | GulfNews.com

Opec expects an oil future with smoother sailing | GulfNews.com:

"The annual Opec’s World Oil Outlook (WOO) report has just been issued and gives pointers to the prospects for the energy industry in general and the oil market in particular up to the year 2040 as seen by researchers of the Secretariat.

Since the previous report which was issued in November 2014, oil prices have dropped from almost $80 (Dh294) a barrel to the current lows of $31.15 for the Opec basket of crude oils (ORB) and with persistent volatility expected to continue for some time to come. In his introduction to the report, Secretary-General Abdalla Salem Al Badri said: “The market instability has led to a number of projects being deferred or cancelled altogether, rig counts falling dramatically, costs being squeezed and redundancies being made. And the supply and demand balance in 2015 has been one of oversupply, with stock levels rising to well above the five-year average.”

This almost tells us the mood under which the report was prepared and that 2015 was a challenging year. In this column, the focus is on the oil market in general and succeeding ones will dwell on the other important aspects of energy markets and the downstream industry as well. The WOO ‘emphasises that oil will remain central to the global energy mix over the next 25 years”, with demand continuing to increase in developing countries and as the world’s population reaches a projected 9 billion and with an urbanisation of 63 per cent.

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