IEA calls on oil producers to invest in boosting output
International Energy Agency chief Claude Mandil has called on oil producing countries to invest more in
infrastructure so they can boost output.
"We need much more investment in the oil sector globally, among listed companies and state enterprises. The demand
for oil is rising more quickly than anticipated," he told. "The capacity for additional production among oil
producing countries is extremely weak, far lower that in the 1990s," he said.
But Mandil criticised some oil producers for rejecting foreign investment.
"If some large producing countries won't authorise foreign investment in their oil sector, then at least let state
oil companies, like Saudi Aramco in Saudi Arabia, invest more," he told.
Mandil acknowledged that the rise in demand for oil in China had been underestimated by most experts "including here
among us", at the International Energy Agency (IEA).
The IEA is compromised of 26 industrialised countries and is a forum committed to coordinating energy policy and
meeting oil supply emergencies.
The rise in demand in China comes at the same time as the conflict in Iraq and political uncertainties in Venezuela.
Oil prices jumped by nearly $ 2 a barrel in New York after an announcement that US crude stocks had dropped for the
fifth straight week raised supply worries, but closed at just under $ 44 a barrel.
