John Browne, the former chief excutive of BP said at the opening conference session of the Offshore Northern Seas show that he expected oil prices to stay above $80 to $100 a barrel.

"It is difficult to see oil prices much below $100, so $80-$100," Browne told the conference.

Browne said energy subsidies have a habit of screwing up the market. “We need to see a 10-fold increase in energy efficiency in the next 40 years. It is a very challenging task and there are critical questions about whether or not it can be achieved”

He said renewable energy presented a very mixed picture around the world “It all depends on whether or not rules are in place.” He added “It is very difficult to get out of the subsidies business once you are in it.”

“What we have to do is to improve our energy productivity three times faster than we improved our labour productivity during the industrial revolution,” he added

Read more: Upstream Online [1]