IEA and future oil investment fears

IEA Executive Director Nobuo Tanaka, who was in Madrid to unveil a review of Spanish energy policy, declined to comment on specific crude prices, but said they showed the global economy may not be recovering quickly.

"In the short-term, the current price level is affecting the supply-demand situation in a way that we haven't seen much of a robust demand recovery yet," Tanaka told reporters.

Tanaka said the IEA was still concerned that current investment in energy may not be enough to meet demand, as and when the economy does recover. "When the economic recovery happens, as many international organisations are expecting, we may see a very tight market toward 2014 and 2015," he told a conference at Spain's Industry Ministry.

Earlier this year, the IEA said a price of $75 a barrel for crude was needed to lure investment in offshore fields and oil sands, but only after the economy has recovered.