Economist credits OPEC for price stability

Allen Baker

Petroleum News contributing writer

Saudi Arabia and some other members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries calmed the oil markets in recent months, as production from Russian sources soaked up increased consumption around the world, according to BP’s Middle East economist, Andrew Barton.

Emergency stocks in consuming countries weren’t even tapped during the Iraqi war because the response by OPEC’s producers worked “according to plan,” Barton said in remarks to industry and business leaders in Abu Dhabi.

Energy demand is growing more slowly now than it was in the 1990s due to slowing Asian economies, environmental concerns, and more efficient use of energy, he said. Natural gas will continue to be the fastest-growing major energy source in the near future, Barton said, because of environmental issues involving other fuels.

Russia’s production is growing as Western technology has been introduced and Russian companies have forged partnerships with the big international firms. Other production is also coming on line in the Caspian region, the deep waters off Canada, and the Atlantic Basin, Barton noted, with daily output from those three regions now totaling 8.2 million barrels a day, up 1.3 million barrels over just the last two years.