Houston—Feb. 24, 2016—Oil prices are unlikely to significantly rebound for at least a few years, the International Energy Agency (IEA) projected, as a top official with the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) said he wouldn’t rule out taking additional steps to stabilize the market.
The new IEA projections and the statements by OPEC’s secretary-general, which came as oil ministers, executives and analysts gathered for the annual IHS CERAWeek conference in Houston made one point abundantly clear: No one is immediately coming to the rescue for struggling oil producers.
Oil rallied Monday following the IEA’s projection that shale production is poised to fall this year by about 600,000 barrels a day, and by 200,000 barrels a day in 2017. U.S. crude rose 6.2 percent to $31.48 a barrel. Oil has fallen by about two-thirds since 2014.
But Fatih Birol, the executive director of the IEA, which tracks the global oil trade on behalf of industrialized nations, and OPEC’s Abdalla el-Badri, who represents the cartel of major exporters, both agreed that market signals continue to point to depressed prices.
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