World seen facing oil deficit from 2010 unless new supply tapped

World seen facing oil deficit from 2010 unless new supply tapped

Kuala Lumpur (Platts)--17May2004


Global oil demand could outstrip supply from as early as 2010, if promising
non-OPEC areas for new production are not realized, Purvin & Gertz
vice-president and director John Vautrain said Monday at the Asian
Petrochemicals Technology & Markets Conference in Kuala Lumpur. 

Russia, West Africa, Canada and Venezuela were strong prospects for new supply, Vautrain
said. He added that Iraq had considerable potential for oil production, even
if the volume of its actual oil reserves remained a matter of speculation. But
access to Iraq's reserves would hinge on the country's political stability and
nature of its future government, Vautrain added. Purvin & Gertz expects world
oil demand growth for 2004 and beyond to match or even surpass the rate of 2%
seen for 2003, Vautrain said. North America is already facing a growing
shortage of natural gas and has been importing LNG since the late 1990s, he
noted.