Political and economic issues affecting capacity expansion: the OPEC point of view

摘要

I should like to begin by thanking the Centre for Global Energy Studies for this opportunity to put the OPEC point of view on a matter which concerns our Organization greatly at the present time: the need for the expansion of the world's oil production capacity in order to meet the projected rise in demand. Against this background, the organisers of this conference must be warmly complimented on their perspicacious choice of subject. Modern society relies extensively on oil for a variety of uses, and our role as an industry is to ensure that we are in a position to satisfy those needs. Current projections indicate that if the global economy continues to expand, while oil production capacity remains at today's levels, demand for oil will outstrip supply sometime early in the next century. Extra capacity will therefore be needed if the world is to avoid a supply crunch and the possibility of a sudden rise in the oil price.