OPEC Forecasts Higher Oil Demand into Middle of Century

OPEC has raised its forecast for global oil demand into the middle of the century.

• It forecasts oil consumption will rise 16% over the next two decades to reach 116mn bpd in 2045 – a 6mn bpd rise over prior predictions.
• It expects road transportation, petchems and aviation to drive the growth.
• India is the major driving force by country – doubling its consumption to almost 12mn bpd.
• China was its next largest growth over that period with a gain of 4 million a day, or 26%.
• “There has been pushback against the opinion that the world should see the back of fossil fuels, as policies and targets for other energies falter due to costs and a more nuanced understanding of the scale of the energy challenges,” OPEC Secretary-General Haitham Al Ghais said.
• The International Energy Agency predicts that demand for fossil fuels will plateau by the end of this decade, a call heavily pushed back against by OPEC claiming it will lead to a lack of investment.
• "Such narratives only set the global energy system up to fail spectacularly," Ghais said in a Sept. 14 statement. "It would lead to energy chaos on a potentially unprecedented scale, with dire consequences for economies and billions of people across the world."