Both oil producers and consumers are worried about a potential shortage of oil in the years ahead as demand outpaces supply growth, and it is likely prices will go even higher unless the problem of excess liquidity in the U.S. economy is resolved, a top official from Iran's national oil company said Friday.
"If there is any panic in production, and it is not due to a shortage today, it is for the future," Hojjatollah Ghanimifard, executive director for international affairs at the National Iranian Oil Co., told Dow Jones Newswires.
"It looks like the pace of production in oil-producing countries cannot keep up with the pace of demand increases," Ghanimifard said. "Everyone is worried about the shortage to come."
Ghanimifard said current high oil prices - which hit a record $142 a barrel in Friday morning trading in London - were rooted in problems in the U.S. economy, including rising inflation, slow growth and paltry returns in other investments like stocks and bonds. That is driving investors to plow their money into oil, pushing up demand and prices, he said.
"Everybody knows that the main reason right now is due to the problems that the economy of the U.S. is faced with," Ghanimifard said. "As long as the problem of the U.S. economy isn't solved, it looks that a part of this, the money liquidity, will be circulated in the (oil) exchanges.
"Due to this huge amount of money liquidity and the amounts of oil that are being exchanged, you will be witnessing prices maybe even higher than now," he said.