Glencore's Hayward: OPEC's Strategy is 'Rational'

Oil cartel OPEC's decision to defend market share to counter a U.S. shale boom was "completely rational" and a sustained period of low prices was on the cards, Glencore (GLCNF)'s Chairman Tony Hayward said on Tuesday.

Hayward said low prices had stimulated demand - expected this year to be 2 million barrels a day of incremental increases over 2014 - but Iran and Libya were wild cards that could affect global supply and demand dynamics.

"I think we do need to be prepared for a period of sustained low prices absent any form of intervention," he told an African oil and gas conference in Cape Town.

Reporting by Wendell Roelf and Ed Stoddard