DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, Sept. 19 (UPI) -- Global energy prices are stoking geopolitical and economic concerns that spill into the supply side for the energy industry, an executive said from Dubai.
Jean-Luc Guiziou, president of the Emirati division of French supermajor Total, told investors in Dubai that global markets face a shortfall of about 40 million barrels of oil per day by 2020, the Platts new service reports.
He said there's good news, however, coming out of North America as U.S. and Canadian energy markets experience significant gains on the supply side.
"At the same time, we see geopolitical issues and events which provide a constant threat to the ability of our industry to supply the markets in a smooth way," he was quoted as saying.
Much of the oil-rich Middle East has been embroiled in unrest at least since late 2010. Libya's oil production last year was shuttered by civil war.
Guiziou said higher oil prices, combined with declines in the value of the euro, make an already difficult economic climate in Europe more severe.
"Total's view is that of a world which will remain facing undersupply challenges in the mid and long terms," he said.
