BP: Former boss John Browne
Browne comments on oil prices
Former BP chief executive John Browne, speaking at the opening session of the Offshore Northern Seas conference in Norway, said it was difficult to see oil prices falling much below $100 per barrel.
Browne, questioned about the future of energy by CNN financial editor Todd Benjamin, remained optimistic about the industry's ability to meet major challenges in coming decades.
“When you rattle the cage extraordinary things happen and that is what will happen with energy,” he said.
He suggested prices would most likely find a floor between $100 and $80.
“It is difficult to see oil prices much below $100, so $80-$100," Browne told the conference. "As a flow, (predicting the) ceiling is difficult."
Browne also said energy subsidies favoured by many countries unbalanced the market. However, such subsidies are likely to remain a part of the energy equation. “It is very difficult to get out of the subsidies business once you are in it,” he warned.
Browne said the world faced an unprecedented energy crunch over the next 10 years.
“We need to see a 10-fold increase in energy efficiency in the next 40 years. It is a very challenging task and there are critical questions about whether or not it can be achieved.”
“What we have to do is to improve our energy productivity three times faster than we improved our labour productivity during the industrial revolution,” he added.
He said renewable energy, often presented as the solution to the global energy crunch, presented a very mixed picture around the world.
Browne resigned as BP’s chief executive last year following revelations about his private life and later joined investment company Riverstone Europe.