Low oil price is a temporary phenomenon and price will rebound in the future, said experts at the DIFC Week.

"After recession there will be severe constraints on the supply side and we have the potential for much higher prices," said Dr Herman Franssen, Senior Associate, CSIS Energy and National Security Programme, and President, International Energy Associates.

"The centre of industrial activity is shifting from the West to Asia and that will increase the demand significantly. Today, 6.5 billion people consume 40 per cent of global energy, whereas 60 per cent is consumed by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). As times change, China, India and the rest of the developing world will move to higher consumption per capita and there will be enormous demand," he added.

Dr Sadad Al Husseini, former executive vice-president for Exploration and Production Aramco, sees price of oil going back to $70-80/barrel by 2010. "Demand has been falling but look long term," he told the audiences.

Experts also agreed that price of oil is not determined by just demand and supply.

There is more to it, says Franssen. "Prices are not influenced by supply and demand alone. Weather conditions, Opec policy and many other factors are at play in determining prices. The more the price goes down the higher it will be when we get out of this recession."

Nader Sultan, Chairman of Ikarus Petroleum Holdings and former CEO of Kuwait Petroleum Corporation, does not agree that Opec plays any role in controlling prices. "This market is not regulated by the fundamentals of supply and demand and Opec does that. The biggest frustration of Opec ministers is their lack of ability to control prices."

The crash in oil prices, he says, has been the result of psychological sentiment at play. "We have a psychological problem and not speculation. It is the same kind of sentiment that brought down prices of Citibank," Sultan said.

Sultan also believes that oil will continue to be traded in dollar. "In the last Opec meeting most countries in the region favoured dollar to remain the currency in which oil is traded." As demand slows down there may be projects that will temporarily halted, says Husseini.

According to a poll, price of oil will be around $50/barrel next year.