LONDON (Reuters) - The following are comments on a number of key energy issues from speakers at the Reuters Global Energy Summit in London:
PEAK OIL
(Peak oil: the concept that global oil production is near a peak after which it will decline sharply.)
- Nobuo Tanaka, Executive Director of the International Energy Agency: "I am always asking my staff is there peak oil coming. Before 2030, we don't think we need to worry. We have abundant resources under ground, so the issue is over ground."
"I'm not siding with peak oil."
- Lars Josefsson, President and Chief Executive of Vattenfall VATN.UL, Sweden's state-owned utility: "I would not get into the religious debate about peak oil, but I think the world will have big difficulties in significantly increasing its oil production."
"Global investment levels are too low .... Oil will come from places more difficult, more distant, more costly and on top of that oil is in areas that don't have stability."
- Ayman Asfari, chief executive of Petrofac (PFC.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), UK-based oil services company: "With oil you have this finite resource. It's like hiding 100 Easter eggs and you find the first 50 with 5 or 10 percent of the effort and for the last 10 it requires 90 percent of the effort."
"The effort is translated into a lot more cost."
"So when you talk about peak oil theory - we have probably hit peak oil in terms of onshore and shallow offshore, but the deep offshore is growing and the non-conventional is growing."
Yves-Louis Darricarrere, head of exploration and production at Total (TOTF.PA: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz): "We say more plateau than peak."
THE OIL PRICE OUTLOOK
- Nobuo Tanaka, IEA Executive Director: "I think oil prices may not easily go back to the level of two, three years ago, probably that is very unlikely."
"In a sense, we are in a third energy crisis as your prime minister said," Tanaka said referring to a comment by UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown.
"Our response should be an energy revolution. We have to change dramatically the demand side by efficiency and new technologies."
- Kevin McCullough, chief operating officer of RWE Innogy, renewable energy arm of German utility RWE (RWEG.DE: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz): "High prices, I think, are here to stay." Continued...
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