The current softening of oil markets is a harbinger of what is to come in the second half of the decade, says the IEA as it points to an emerging surplus of oil and natural gas in its World Energy Outlook 2024. With the IEA projecting oil demand to peak before the end of the current decade, its outlook couldn’t be further removed from that of Opec, which stated last month that global demand will continue rising out to at least 2050 (MEES, 27 September).
Where Opec Secretary General Haitham al-Ghais says “there is no peak oil demand on the horizon,” IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol says “in the second half of this decade, the prospect of more ample – or even surplus – supplies of oil and natural gas, depending on how geopolitical tensions evolve, would move us into a very different energy world from the one we have experienced in recent years during the global energy crisis.” “It implies downward pressure on prices, providing some relief for consumers that have been hit hard by price spikes,” he adds. (CONTINUED - 812 WORDS)
