Physicist Dr Steven Chu says: Asia to be biggest market for oil, gas

Countries around the world should not expect lower oil prices in the forseeable future. In fact, those prices could reach as high as US$130 a barrel in the next decade, said Dr Steven Chu, former US Secretary of Energy.

“We do not know what the price of oil will be in the coming decades, but I think it is not going to go below US$70 a barrel for an extended period of time unless there is a very deep recession. Can it go up to US$120 or US$130? The answer is, yes. However, it is unlikely to go up to US$150 to US$200 because the methods of finding oil are getting better every day and extracting it. I think prices will stay in the US$90 to US$110 range,” he said.

Chu, who served as the US Secretary of Energy from January 21, 2009, to April 22, 2013, in the Barack Obama administration, spoke at Monday’s opening of the T&T Energy Conference at the Hyatt Regency Trinidad hotel, Dock Road, Port-of-Spain.

At the T&T Energy Conference, he gave his forecast and analysis on how he sees the global energy sector evolving over the next few decades.

He believes the price of natural gas will remain between US$4 to US$6 million metric British thermal units (mmbtu) for the “next couple of decades”, even if the US begins to export natural gas.

“It is hard to make a prediction unless you know what is happening technologically. The technology in hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling are rapidly changing,” he said.

Chu said as Secretary of Energy, he was accused of manipulating circumstances to change the price of oil for the first three years.