Doris Leblond
OGJ Correspondent
PARIS, Jan. 17 -- Total SA Chairman and Chief Executive Thierry Desmarest says the recent oil price decline is caused by warm weather and energy conservation beginning in the wake of recent high oil prices.
Following up on a statement made to the French economic daily Les Echos, Desmarest added that prices should move upward again as a result of strong world economic growth and the long lead time needed to make necessary oil capacity available.
How the balance between the upside and downside parameters will work out is difficult to tell, he said. "The most probable is that the gap between available production capacity and world oil demand will remain narrow...so one must expect for some time yet very high price volatility."
