Oil prices won't hit $100 a barrel for a long time, says BP CEO

Bob Dudley, the chief executive (CEO) of oil giants BP, has told investors to put the thought of $100-a-barrel oil out of their minds for a “long time.”

“It will be a long time before we see $100 again,” he told Bloomberg.

Speaking to Bloomberg Television on Tuesday, Dudley suggested the price oil should settle around the $60 a barrel mark for a period of up to three years.

“It will be a long time before we see $100 again,” he told Bloomberg.

“The fundamental supply and demand does remind me of 1986 a bit, where we could go into a period in this decade of lower oil prices,” he said, referring to the year that saw oil prices drop from $30 to $10 a barrel.

The BP CEO said the decline in crude prices was due to sluggish growth in emerging markets such as China, coupled with oil stocks filling up around the world.

“All of these things have led to lots of stocks building up and you may start seeing it filling up some ships. And when, traditionally, that happens it can go on for quite awhile,” he said.