The former British Petroleum (BP) chief executive predicts an oil price boom in the near future.
Tony Hayward, who runs the Iraqi Kurdistan-focused Genel Energy, said oil prices are set to soar as the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has taken just six-months to stop the US shale oil rise in its tracks, FT reported on Wednesday.
Hayward said OPEC had shown itself to be “the most successful cartel in history,” predicting oil prices to return to near $80 a barrel soon.
He also said the rapid fall in drilling rigs in the United States would soon see the US oil output slow or fall.
While Hayward acknowledged some OPEC members had been hurt by the oil price crash, he said OPEC’s longer-term decision to maintain production had been justified.
“Over a 1-2 year time period, in terms of defending your market share, it’s been a success…I would expect them to continue on the course they set. It’s having exactly the consequences they envisaged,” he said.
Oil prices saw a hike on Wednesday after the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported a drop in America’s output. Brent crude was up 66 cents at $62.74 a barrel for June delivery, while the US crude was up 20 cents to $56.81 per barrel.
