‘International Oil Companies Are the Real Dinosaurs’

In an exlusive SPIEGEL interview, OPEC Secretary-General Abdalla Salem el-Badri discusses the dangers of a further dramatic rise in the oil price, the failures of multinational oil companies and considerations within the cartel of oil-exporting nations to trade in euros rather than dollars.

SPIEGEL: Some experts doubt that OPEC can even expand production volume to a significant degree anymore. These specialists say that Saudi Arabia, for example — the world’s only oil superpower — is already putting too much pressure on its oil fields today, and that the reserves are generally smaller than was previously assumed.

El-Badri: Don’t worry, we still have capacity. We are currently able to increase production by 3.5 million barrels. And we have also invested up to 2012 in new projects at a total cost of $150 billion, which will give us additional capacity of 6 million barrels in four years. However, we have to know how high the demand for oil will be in the future, so that we can plan our investments accordingly.

SPIEGEL: You cannot deny that the reserves are finite. Have we already seen “peak oil” — the maximum level of petroleum production that can be reached before reserves will inevitably begin to shrink?

El-Badri : No, I don’t think so. I also don’t believe that we will reach this point in the near future.

SPIEGEL: Experts outside of OPEC have a less optimistic view of our energy future.

El-Badri : Perhaps. But I believe that even your grandchildren will still have enough fossil fuel. There will be an end to the oil, for sure. But I’m convinced it will not be in the next 100 years.

Spiegel