Shell boss says oil price is hard to predict

It’s hard to foresee a recovery in oil prices, according to Royal Dutch Shell’s chief executive.

Brent crude has dropped from a 52-week high of $99.27 a barrel right down to a current price of $48.92 as at 1149 BST on Thursday.

On top of that, Goldman Sachs on Friday cut its 2016 Brent oil price forecast to $49.5 a barrel from $62 and warned there is a risk prices could fall to as low as $20.

Ben van Beurden told BBC Radio 4's Today programme it’s a “very, very volatile business in terms of supply and demand”.

“The oil price responds to very small mismatches between supply and demand."

When asked about where oil prices may go next, he responded: "the honest answer to that is I don't know."

Van Beurden claimed that the dramatic drop in the price of oil is due to a few percent of oversupply.

“It shows how inelastic the whole system is, and simply because oil is so cheap it’s not as if demand is going to respond.”

He added that the lower oil price isn’t going to make consumers use more of it.

"People don't drive to work twice because it's more economical to do so.”

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