Higher oil output to push down petrol price

The price of oil is likely to fall to about $US35 a barrel over the next few years and push petrol back down to about $1 a litre, an independent expert predicts.

An energy economist, Associate Professor Anthony Owen at the University of NSW, says the world has plenty of oil and it is only a matter of time before production and refinery capacity increase to meet growing global demand.
“There’s stacks of oil available in the world,” he said.

“Provided the investment is available, oil can be produced at a price that is certainly lower than it is at the moment.”

Dr Owen made his predictions in a paper at the University of NSW Centre for Energy and Environmental Markets conference yesterday. He said extreme price fluctuations in the past and a lack of information about oil reserves had undermined investment in the oil production.

Sidney Morning Herald