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Oil prices to be $60-80 per barrel in 2016 if investment recovers — Rosneft CEO

World oil prices could bounce back to $100-$110 if the lack of investment in drilling causes a shortfall in production

LONDON, February 13. /TASS/. World oil prices will stand at $60-80 per barrel in 2016 if the level of investment in the oil industry recovers, Russian oil major Rosneft CEO Igor Sechin said in an interview with The Independent on Friday.

However, if investment levels do not recover and the supply-demand equation is not rebalanced, world oil prices could bounce back to $100-$110 as the lack of investment in drilling would cause a shortfall in production, he told the paper.

The Rosneft head also said the company was prepared for a long struggle in a European court against the EU sanctions.

"We are fighting: the knot will be untied," the paper quoted him as saying.

Asked about a possible timeframe for examining Rosneft’s legal case after it was moved from London to the European Court, Sechin said that instead of three years, the process might last a year and a half.

"What can you do? I don’t know if the case will be tried on merit and our claims will be justly reviewed and evaluated," he said.

The sanctions imposed against Russia "have reverse effects: they damage international shareholders and international stakeholders... banks and investment funds that will not be able to invest in the development of industries in Russia," Sechin said.

"The world economy will face severe consequences. The application of sanctions against the company cannot be justified. We are not a subject of political decisions, so the extension of sanctions to the corporate level is absolutely illegal and illegitimate."

It is not just Russians who have suffered from the western sanctions as "300,000 German jobs rely on equipment supplies to Russia," Sechin said.