IEA Executive Director sees downward pressure on oil price in 2016

"We will continue to see down pressure on oil prices in 2016 because there is a lot of oil in the market and not so much demand," said Executive Director of the International Energy Agency (IEA) Fatih Birol in Davos, Switzerland.

Demand is getting weaker because economy of major countries slows down, Fatih told Xinhua in an interview.

"We will see down pressure on oil prices in 2016, but we may see the price will start to increase in late 2017," said Fatih.

He predicted the oil price may increase to 80 U.S. dollars per barrel in the next four or five years.

Low oil price is good news for some countries which are oil importer. But it is bad news for oil exporters, especially middle east countries and Russia, he added.

The 46th World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting convened from Jan. 20 to 23 in Davos-Klosters, Switzerland, under the theme "Mastering the Fourth Industrial Revolution."

Fatih said that far from being a romantic dream, renewables were central to meeting the energy demands that the Fourth Industrial Revolution would bring about.

He explained that the bulk of new installations - more than two-thirds - comes from emerging countries.

"To meet climate change and growth targets, around 40 percent of future energy supply must come from zero-emission technologies," he added. Endit