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LONDON, Jan 2 (Reuters) - The slump in global oil pricescould hit bottom in early 2016 although prices are likely toremain low for the next couple of years, BP ChiefExecutive Officer Bob Dudley said.
"A low point could be in the first quarter," Dudley said in BBC radio interview broadcast on Saturday.
Brent crude prices fell by 34 percent last year aftershedding 48 percent in 2014. The plunge in global oil prices haspushed inflation close to or below zero in many countries,helping consumers but wrong-footing central banks.
Dudley said a more natural balance between supply and demandcould come back in the third and fourth quarter of this year,after which stock levels could start to wear off.
"Prices are going to stay lower for longer, we have said itand I think we are in this for a couple of years. For sure,there is a boom-and-bust cycle here," Dudley said.
Dudley also said he did not agree with Bank of EnglandGovernor Mark Carney's use of the term "stranded assets" todescribe oil and gas reserves held by companies but which mayprove unviable as the world moves to a low-carbon economy.
Carney used the phrase in a speech in September in which hecalled on companies to be more open about their "climate changefootprint" to avoid abrupt changes in asset prices that coulddestabilise markets.
"I think the term overstates it quite frankly and I havespoken to the governor about it and I have questioned thatterm," Dudley said in the interview.
BP shareholders were already aware of the viability of thecompany's assets which were only counted as reserves if theywere economic, he said. (Writing by William Schomberg; Editing by Catherine Evans)
