'The oil price will rise again', says IOGP chief

Executive director of the IOGP, Michael Engell-Jensen, talks about what's next for the energy industry

The executive director of the International Association of Oil & Gas Producers struck a relatively upbeat note about the oil price – given the circumstances – at the Offshore Europe conference in Aberdeen in early September. “These downturns are always very painful,” Michael Engell-Jensen told Petroleum Economist. But the International Energy Agency (IEA) forecasts that in 2040 oil and gas will still account for half of the total primary energy demand, so “there is a fundamental need for our production, this is just a temporary feature.” In the meantime companies have to lay off a lot of good people and projects get cancelled, so “it is a mess.” But it is difficult to see how it could be