ABU DHABI: Oil demand will remain above 100 million barrels per day beyond 2040, UAE oil giant ADNOC'S chief executive, Sultan Al Jaber, said on Monday while flagging headwinds in the near term.

"Geopolitics continue to shape trade flows and news flows. Complexity is constant, sentiment moves markets, and volatility, in my view, is no longer a variable. It is the norm," he told industry leaders at the opening of the ADIPEC energy conference.

The United Arab Emirates is one of eight OPEC+ countries that agreed to increase December output targets but pause increases in the first quarter of next year as the producers' group moderates plans to regain market share due to rising fears of a supply glut.

New Western sanctions on OPEC+ member Russia are adding to challenges in the strategy, as Moscow may struggle to further raise output after the U.S. and Britain imposed fresh measures on top producers Rosneft and Lukoil.

Al Jaber said, however, that the long-term outlook shows growth in energy demand, adding that cost discipline must be balanced with capital investment.

"While we may face headwinds in the months ahead, the long-term outlook shows demand growth for every form of energy across every market," he said.

OPEC+ has granted the UAE a bigger production quota this year after the country said the producer group was restricting its output too much when it had invested heavily to expand capacity to 4.85 million barrels per day from 3 million bpd.

UAE energy minister said in July that his country could further boost its oil capacity after 2027 if that is what markets require, implying the country had the potential to become one of the world's five biggest producers.

 

(Reporting by Maha El Dahan, Yousef Saba, and Jana Choukeir; Editing by Tom Hogue and Thomas Derpinghaus)