According to Reuters report International Energy Agency (IEA) chief Fatih Birol has said that oil prices may have bottomed out, providing that the health of the global economy does not pose a concern.
A decline in non-OPEC production amounting to more than 700,000 barrels per day this year, and production outages such as in Nigeria and Kuwait, have driven the rally, Birol told Reuters on the sidelines of the Group of Seven energy ministers’ meeting in Kitakyushu, southwestern Japan.
Reuters quoted him saying, “We believe under normal conditions towards the end of this year, second half of this year but latest 2017, markets will rebalance. It may well be the case, but it will depend on how the global economy looks like. In a normal economic environment, we will see the price direction is rather upwards than downwards.”
Birol said he hopes to see a rebound in upstream oil investments next year, following a 40 percent curb in investments over two years. Non-OPEC output is set to fall by more than 700,000 barrels per day this year, the biggest decline in around 20 years, he said.