Opec kingpin Saudi Arabia is pressing on with its investments in all phases of the oil and gas sector, despite the plunge in oil prices, Oil Minister Ali Naimi told a G20 meeting of energy ministers in Istanbul on 2 October. Mr Naimi said that while it was understandable that companies and governments should cut spending when prices fall, there should be “sustained and steady investment” for an industry with long-term horizons, despite the “historical cycles of boom and bust.”
Oil prices collapsed over the six months to January 2015, and have been volatile since: Brent rose to average $65/B for May and June, before again tanking to hit a new five-year low of $42/B at the end of August. Though the oil price fall had its genesis in record-breaking rises in US production and weak global demand, big gains in Opec output, particularly since the turn of the year, have only served to put further downward pressure on the oil price. (CONTINUED - 723 WORDS)
