IEA warns of falling energy investment

LONDON (Reuters) – The economic downturn is cutting investment in energy supply, risking higher prices in future that would hamper any recovery, the chief economist of the International Energy Agency said on Wednesday.

Fatih Birol told Reuters in an interview the agency, which advises 28 industrialized countries, expects oil and gas upstream investment to fall 21 percent in 2009 versus 2008 due to the recession.