ABB Chairman Sees Oil Price Rebound in 2017
The price of oil has the potential to fall further this year but could rebound in 2017 on the back of a stronger global economy, the chairman of Swiss engineering group ABB told local television.
"The price can still go lower because supply and demand are far apart at the moment," Peter Voser said in a panel discussion broadcast by Swiss news program SRF ECO on Monday.
Voser worked at oil company Royal Dutch Shell (RYDAF) for years including a period as chief executive officer from 2009 until the end of 2013.
Last year, oil prices fell as much as 35 percent after a race to pump by Middle East crude producers and U.S. shale oil drillers created an unprecedented global glut.
"I would say that in the second half of this year and in 2017 demand and supply will level out somewhat. Then we will probably see a rise in the price again. How much it rises depends on how strongly the world economy develops over the next one to two years, how strongly demand will grow."
On Monday, prices reached a 2003 low below $28 per barrel as the market braced for a rise in Iranian exports after the lifting of sanctions against Tehran over the weekend.
(Reporting by Joshua Franklin and Angelika Gruber; editing by David Clarke)
