UAE minister says oil could be in short supply in 2017

The energy minister of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) said here Tuesday the world could face a shortage in oil supply in 2017.

The UAE minister, Suhail Al-Mazrouei, said there could be a sudden spike in crude prices triggered by excess demand in 2017, as lower crude prices in the previous years led to reduction in oil and gas exploration projects.

"We could soon be back to conditions like in 2013 when an excess demand affected the price of oil," Al-Mazrouei told panel discussion during the ongoing Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference (ADIPEC).

Crude prices peaked at 110 U.S. dollars a barrel in mid-2014 but dropped later to as low as 27 dollars a barrel.

Oil rose to 53 dollars a barrel last month and fell back to around 45 dollars a barrel recently.

Al-Mazrouei said a wave of cancellations of oil exploration projects shall not be underestimated.

"Re-balancing of the oil market could happen sooner than expected," he said, adding that in the oil services industry, about 120,000 staff were made redundant globally after the fall in crude prices.

However, he reiterated the optimism that the oil industry in the UAE and the Gulf Arab region "would emerge stronger from the slump as we have sharpened our pencils and increased efficiency in exploration technology and exports."