UAE energy minister: oil investment declined even at $50/barrel

Reuters
UAE Energy Minister Suhail bin Mohammed al-Mazroui talks to reporters during the 15th International Energy Forum Ministerial (IEF15) in Algiers, Algeria September 28, 2016. REUTERS/Ramzi Boudina/Files

ABU DHABI (Reuters) - The global oil market needs price levels which provide incentives to invest in production, and even at a price of $50 a barrel investment was declining, United Arab Emirates Energy Minister Suhail bin Mohammed al-Mazroui said on Wednesday.

"We have tested $40 and $50 prices, and it hasn't worked," Mazroui said at a Bloomberg Markets summit.

He also said that in the wake of the OPEC deal to cut oil production at the end of last month, he was confident that non-OPEC producers including Russia would also reduce output.

In this context, the oil market could correct to reasonable levels within six months, he said. "We will see in six months what will be the requirement and take the right measures."

(Reporting by Maha El Dahan and Stanley Carvalho; Writing by Andrew Torchia)