BP chief executive Tony Hayward has played down the prospect that the surge in oil may unwind anytime soon as the industry's lack of investment in production capacity catches up with it.
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| BP chief executive Tony Hayward was speaking in Kuala Lumpur |
"Producers are being hampered by 25 years of low investments, because of low prices," Mr Hayward told the Asia Oil and Gas Conference in Kuala Lumpur today. "The result is a supply chain being stretched to breaking point."
Crude oil surged on Friday to a record $139.12 a barrel in New York, although it had eased off to trade at $137 early on Monday.
Fears about the ability of the oil industry to quickly tap new reserves come on top of existing forecasts that the world will exhaust its oil supplies in the next half century.
