Gulf states are planning to spend $320bn in the oil and gas sector, according to Suhail Mohamed al-Mazrouei, the UAE's Minister of Energy & Industry and the current Opec Conference President.

Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the UAE are each planning to invest $100bn, according to Al-Mazrouei.

The UAE energy minister said he believed the US was also seeing a high level of investment, speaking at the International Petroleum Week conference in London.

“We need more investment,” he said.

Al-Mazrouei said that if there was not enough investment on production there could be future price volatility in energy markets.

He said that there was a risk that “when a shock comes we won’t have enough supply to meet demand,” and a buffer of spare production capacity is needed to prevent future boom and bust cycles.

Global investment in oil and gas during 2017 lagged behind levels recorded in 2015 and 2016.