(Bloomberg) —

Oil prices haven’t peaked yet because Chinese demand has yet to return to normal, said the energy minister from key OPEC member the United Arab Emirates.

These comments suggest that consumers will not see any relief from rising energy costs. The UAE, which is third-largest producer of OPEC oil and gas, has the ability to increase its production significantly. Yet it also expects that supply shortages will worsen.

“If we continue consuming, with the pace of consumption we have we are nowhere near the peak, because China is not back yet,” UAE Energy Minister Suhail Al-Mazrouei said at a conference on Wednesday in Jordan. “China will come with more consumption.”

Al-Mazrouei stated that the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies cannot guarantee enough supplies of the oil as the demand recovers fully from the coronavirus pandemic. 

Last week, the group decided to increase oil production in summer months. After several months of difficulty in meeting its production targets, OPEC+ received a modest boost to supply. It amounts to only 0.4% increase over global demand between July and august. 

“We’re lagging by almost 2.6 million barrels a day, and that’s a lot,” Al Mazrouei said.

While only Saudi Arabia and UAE possess significant amounts of idle production capacity they are unable to compensate for a part of the Russian sanctions-related supply gaps. 

 “The situation is not very encouraging when it comes to the quantities that we can bring,” Al Mazrouei said. 

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