The world is heading towards an oil deficit, if we are to believe recent headlines quoting the chief executive of Saudi Aramco, Amin Nasser. There is simply not enough investment in new production to replace depleted fields, the message ran. Shale oil production growth will not be enough because the shortage, according to unspecified studies, will come in at 20 million barrels a day over the next five years. Talk of a shortage is not new. Last November, the International Energy Agency (IEA) warned that a shortage could set in as soon as 2020, as the investment shrinkage brought on by the 2014 oil price crash bears fruit. Prices, the IEA had said at the time, could jump significantly at the end of the decade. The authority reiterated its expectations more recently as well in its World Energy Investment 2017 report , although the concern was toned down, with […]