Schlumberger's Andrew Gould: 'the age of easy oil is over'
Global oil and gas investment 'insufficient'
Investment in new oil and gas projects is not enough to boost needed global energy capacity, Schlumberger chief executive Andrew Gould today.
Gould told investment bank Howard Weil's annual energy conference that low investment and project delays, as well as rapid decline in existing fields were slowing the growth of energy capacity worldwide, MarketWatch reported.
"Supply response to create a cushion of spare production capacity will take longer than we originally thought," Gould said.
He said that while producers were coming to terms with higher costs, spare capacity remained below historical levels. He said only a recession could bring short-term relief to the situation by temprarily slowing demand.
"The age of easy oil is over," he said.
Nevertheless, Gould said he expected demand for the oilfield services offered by his company to increase over the next few years.
Schlumberger is the world's largest oilfield services company.