(Bloomberg) -- The oil market is “very, very tight” and $100 a barrel is probably on the cards in the longer term, according to Jeremy Weir, chief executive officer and chairman of energy trading giant Trafigura Group.
“There are no freely available barrels,” he said at The Financial Times' Commodities Asia Summit on Tuesday. Additional supply is needed but it's uncertain if it will arrive, Weir said.
The comments from the head of Trafigura, the world's second-biggest independent oil trader, come after its chief economist said in June that $100 oil is a possibility in 12 to 18 months. Italy's Eni SpA also said recently that prices could hit that level, although probably only for a short time.
See also: OPEC's Oil Glut Fears Are Built on Faulty Forecasts: Julian Lee
OPEC+ producers, meanwhile, have said the market will soon become over-supplied and are resisting calls from consuming nations to restore production faster. Russia is the latest member of the alliance claiming there's no shortage of oil, and that there may even be excess supply from early next year.
Trafigura is seeing a “strong recovery” in oil consumption, led by gasoline and even aviation fuel , according to Weir. However, higher prices are needed to incentivize new production to meet the rising demand, he added.
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