Vitol CEO sees product demand growth, more Russian products to Asia  

Quantum Commodity Intelligence – Vitol CEO Russell Hardy said that global consumption of gasoline and jet fuel were still below 2019 levels and that the market could expect to see high prices for energy remain until demand for energy drops.

The Vitol boss also said more Russian crude oil and products will "predominantly" head to Asian markets next year, while in turn, Europe will increasingly rely on the Middle East to cover diesel shortfalls left by Russia.

"There are still two to three million barrels a day of demand to come back next year," said Hardy, whose company is the world's biggest independent trader of oil and oil products, speaking at the Qatar Economic Forum in Doha, hosted by Bloomberg.

Prices for oil and oil products were likely to remain elevated so long as there was more consumption to come from the market, although fuel remaining so expensive risks demand destruction, Hardy told the forum.

Hardy also said tight energy markets would continue until demand growth levels off.

"It's tough to see markets really giving up much ground until we see some abatement in demand. We are still really not back to 2019 demand levels for gasoline and jet fuel, all in all that's fairly supportive of prices."

"The one thing that everyone is concerned about is runaway prices which would make recessions more likely," he told the forum in an interview relayed by Bloomberg TV.