Exxon urges oil producing nations to lower barriers

Madrid: Oil producing countries need to remove barriers to investment to ensure global oil markets are well-supplied, but are unlikely to do so as long as prices remain high, ExxonMobil's CEO said on Tuesday.

"If governments are unhappy with the current supply-demand balance, they can change it," Rex Tillerson told Reuters in an interview.

President of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) Chakib Khelil said earlier that producers were not happy with high oil prices, which analysts and oil executives say are being driven by a tight oil market.

Tillerson said there was one way for states endowed with oil to ensure future supplies met demand. "Allow your resources to be developed to meet the world's energy needs," he urged.

Reasons

Exxon said every country had its reason for putting bars on investment by oil companies. In the US, the reasons were largely environmental. However, the US public mood was moving toward allowing drilling in areas currently off limits to the oil majors due to environmental concerns, Tillerson said.

In Opec countries which limit investment, he said high oil prices meant there was little incentive to allow more access to foreign companies even though this was needed. "When the prices are high, the national governments don't see a need for an IOC [international oil company]. They don't recognise the value an IOC brings," he said.