LONDON (Reuters) - The U.S. shale industry will see another wave of investments as producers are "hedging like mad" against a fall in oil prices, the chief executive of Total (PA:TOTF) Patrick Pouyanne said on Wednesday.
Pouyanne, speaking at the Oil & Money conference in London, said he expected global oil demand to grow strongly again this year by up to 1.6 million barrels per day.
"Our U.S. colleagues are hedging like mad at $56 a barrel so we will see another wave of investment in U.S. shale, no doubt about it."
A sharp drop in investment since a collapse in oil prices in 2014 has led to a drop in development of new projects which could lead to an oil supply shortage after 2020, Pouyanne said.
