Shell's Van der Veer sees global oil demand now stabilized

St Petersburg, Russia (Platts) – Shell’s outgoing CEO Jeroen van der Veer said Friday he believes that
global oil demand has now stabilized, but warned that industry costs must fall
further in order for Shell to revive its delayed oil sands projects in Canada.

“So far we saw a decline in demand in Europe and the US, especially in
the fourth quarter of 2008,” he said in an interview Friday.

“Demand has stabilized now and we hope it continues like that or gets
even better,” Van der Veer told Platts on the sidelines of the St Petersburg
Economic Forum.

Oil prices jumped about 30% in May, the largest monthly gain in more than
a decade, helped by stock market gains and early signs of a global economy
recovery. Last month, however, the International Energy Agency said bullish
macroeconomic sentiment has not yet produced signs of oil demand recovery and
predicted oil demand still falling some 3% this year.

Van der Veer, who is set to retire at the end of the month, declined to
predict oil price moves but added that restricting upstream investments now
could lead to a spike in prices later.

Platts