"Long-term prospects look a lot different, with all market fundamentals pointing towards oil at $100 and more," Philipp L Lotter, Senior Vice-President, Corporate Finance Group at Moody's, told Emirates Business.


"Tomorrow's oil will be more expensive to find and produce, thus leading to much higher break-even levels for producer countries, and significant investments are needed to extend reserve lives, develop deeper, high-pressure reservoirs and tap into non-conventional sources, such as oil sands," he said.

"This will be exacerbated if important investments in longer term supply are shelved and thus lead to shortages in a recovering global economic environment.