Oct 10, 2017

Oil's looming "supply gap"

Rich Pedroncelli / AP

One school of thought in oil analyst circles is that while markets are swimming in crude right now, a lack of new investment in big projects in recent years means there's a supply crunch looming as soon as the early 2020s.

Among those adhering to "supply gap" theory is Jonathan Chanis, VP of policy at Securing America's Future Energy, who said on the Platts Capitol Crude podcast that the shale boom isn't enough:

"If we don't start seeing some large-scale FIDs, final investment decisions on mega-projects, projects over $10 billion or $15 billion apiece, if we don't start seeing them now and next year or shortly after, by the time we get around to the 2020s, we are going to be short oil."
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