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Global investment in oil industry in 2020 to fall by third, says Russian Energy Minister

Novak added that the Ministry does not rule out the possibility of a small deficit in the oil market in July due to increased economic activity in the world

MOSCOW, July 2. /TASS/. Global investments in the oil industry in 2020 amid a strong drop in oil demand will drop by one third, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said on Thursday.

"In April, we saw a fall in demand by 25-28%. Of course, this seriously affected investments in the fuel and energy complex. They [investments], in my opinion, fell by about a third, will fall by a third this year," the minister said.

The decline in global demand led to an increase in oil reserves. "According to my estimates, the growth of reserves was about 1 bln barrels for this period," Novak said.

Novak added that the Ministry does not rule out the possibility of a small deficit in the oil market in July due to increased economic activity in the world. "I hope that in July the statistics will show that we have already reached a balance, and maybe even a deficit, given the ongoing restoration of quarantine measures in many countries," he said.

According to the minister, in May the supply of oil on the market exceeded demand by about 15 mln barrels per day. In June, this figure fell further due to increased demand.