Qatar energy minister says oil price has bottomed out

The oil price has bottomed out and there are signs that a recovery will take place in 2016, Qatar’s energy minister Mohammad bin Saleh al-Sada said on Sunday.

In an emailed statement Sada, who is also acting president of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries, said growth in supply from non-OPEC producers seen over the past five years had substantially decreased in 2015 and there was likely to be zero to negative growth in 2016.

At the same time, demand for OPEC oil is expected to increase to 30.5 million barrels per day next year from 29.3 million bpd in 2015 because of stronger appetite in both developed and emerging markets, he said.

As a result, the trend of declining investment in the oil industry could cause production shortfalls down the line, Sada added.

He noted that OPEC and non-OPEC countries planned to meet at expert level in Vienna later this month to discuss and evaluate the oil market situation.