The world needs $18.2 trillion in oil and gas investments through 2050 to ensure energy supply by the middle of the century, OPEC Secretary General Haitham Al Ghais has told Energy Connects in an exclusive interview.
Oil demand is set to continue rising through 2050, with consumption expected at 123 million barrels per day (bpd) then, up from about 104 million bpd this year, according to OPEC’s annual World Oil Outlook (WOO) released last week.
Oil is still expected to account for 30% of the global energy mix in 2050, according to OPEC’s estimates, which Al Ghais said are fact-based, not ideology-based.
This forecast puts additional responsibility on OPEC’s shoulders, and the group continues to advocate for increased investments in the energy sector, Al Ghais said.
The oil industry, in particular, will require up to $18.2 trillion investments from now to 2050, the OPEC secretary general added.
“It’s important that the world gets this right and invests now in order to be ready for the future,” Al Ghais has Energy Connects.
In the foreword to the WOO 2025, Al Ghais wrote “There is no peak oil demand on the horizon.”
In view of slowing Chinese demand growth, OPEC revised down its oil demand growth forecasts for all years between 2025 and 2029.
However, global economic development with growing demand for oil and an increasing global population and middle class are set to underpin demand growth in the coming decades.
OPEC reiterated its view that there is no peak oil demand in sight and the world will see continued rising consumption for decades.
OPEC’s view that there is no peak oil demand on the horizon contrasts with forecasts from the industry and the International Energy Agency (IEA). Many of the largest oil firms see demand plateauing at some point next decade, while the IEA has just doubled down on its narrative that a peak in global oil demand is still on the horizon.
By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com
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