The global oil and gas industry is in ‘uncharted territory’ in terms of relations with the Middle East, an international market specialist has warned.
Joe Stanislaw, a financial adviser and founder of the JAStanislaw Group, said headwinds such as civil wars and the oil reliance of Saudi Arabia could influence the future of the energy industry.
Stanislaw, who was speaking at the opening sessions of University of Oklahoma’s 2017 Energy Symposium, said all these factors make doing business in the region an unknown factor.
The former president of Cambridge Energy Research Associates quoted an Arab proverb when asked about future oil demand, saying: “He who predicts the future lies, even if he tells the truth.”
Stanislaw said: “There are headwinds and they are serious.
“Look at the Middle East. There could be a major disruption there. We are in uncharted territory right now.
“That could be a tremendous headwind, a roadblock for us going forward.
“These are dire comments, do I think they are going to happen? They are possible. Do I want them to happen? Absolutely not.”
He added: “The dynamics are up for grabs. We have Yemen going on, that’s a proxy war for Iran and Saudi Arabia. We have the United States not very happy with Iran for obvious reasons. We are backing different people in the war in Syria. Russia is in bed with Iran in the Middle East.
“It’s all changing before us.
“It’s a web of mixtures where we don’t know what is going to happen.”
Stanislaw made the comments during a ‘fireside chat’ with moderator Bruce Stover during the first session of the University of Oklahoma’s Energy Symposium.
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