Anti-Russian sanctions to affect oil prices, former BP CEO says

Former CEO of British oil and gas group BP, Tony Hayward, said that anti-Russian sanctions of the European Union and the United States may have a negative impact on the countries of the West. According to him, in the near future, the restrictive measures imposed on Russia would lead to an increase in oil prices, coupled with shortages of world energy supplies, Russia Today reports.

The anti-Russian sanctions threaten the security of the global energy market, Tony Hayward said. The restrictions on Russian oil and gas companies may lead to disruptions in supplies and rising oil prices, he said in an interview with The Financial Times.

The expert also noted that shale boom in the United States that concealed the growing risks to the global energy market would soon subside, and the economy of the whole world would be defenseless to possible restrictions in oil supplies.

The comments were made against the backdrop of Western sanctions that affected Gazprom, Lukoil and several other Russian energy companies, against which the United States and the EU imposed restrictions for the supply of goods, technologies and services for exploration and extraction of deep shelf resources, as well as for the implementation of shale oil projects.

According to Hayward, the world is experiencing a false sense of security in connection with the shale gas revolution in the United States that has led to an increase in oil production in the United States by 60 percent since 2008. He noted that it remains unclear where new supplies will come when oil exports from the United States reach their maximum.