BG Group chairman Andrew Gould will tell an audience of industry leaders tomorrow that oil and gas firms’ only constraint is their own ability to meet global demand.
Speaking at the Scottish Oil Club’s 35th annual dinner, Mr Gould, former chief executive at global oil service firm Schlumberger, will say the “problem of this decade” will be turning reserves into production.
The event at Edinburgh International Conference Centre will be attended by about 700 industry executives.
Today, Mr Gould told the Press & Journal high commodity prices had led to “frenetic” growth in exploration and production activity around the world.
This had led to an increase reserves, especially in shale gas in the US and oil offshore Brazil, he said.
He added: “What concerns me and what I think will be the problem of this decade will be turning reserves into production and delivering it to market on time, and at a cost that provides a reasonable price to consumers and rate of return to the operators and service companies.”
Mr Gould also said resource development would be complicated by the quality and accessibility of oil and gas and the capacity of the industry to manage and support the scale of activity needed as well as political, fiscal and security issues.
Ambitions to grow production are fraught with problems but it was an industry with a “remarkable” ability to adapt, he said.
The club was founded in 1975 as the Edinburgh and Leith Petroleum Club, merging with the Glasgow based Oil Club in 1998.