BP Statistical review
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
By Mr. Christof Ruehl, Chief Economist for global energy giant BP
On 7 July Christof Ruehl, Chief Economist for global energy giant BP, visited the IEF headquarters and presented the recently released BP Statistical Review of World Energy 2009 to a full-house of press, industry and diplomatic corps.
The report highlights the impact of the global economic crisis on world energy markets and illustrates a building overhang of spare-capacity in the oil sector, which will have a dampening effect on prices in the coming years according to BP. The ongoing structural move in demand growth away from traditional OECD markets is also highlighted and the issue of volatile oil prices is set in historical context. However, the volatile oil price swings in 2008 can be largely explained by demand and supply, said Ruehl, who also declared he was not convinced that speculation played a significant role.
