LONDON - Global oil demand will hit a plateau around 2030 as the use of more efficient cars and electric vehicles ends an expansion that dominated the past century, the International Energy Agency predicts.
The prospect of"peak demand" has spread in the oil industry in recent years as countries seek to avert catastrophic climate change by diversifying from fossil fuels, and as renewable-energy sources get cheaper. The report does offer oil producers some solace. Even as demand growth slows, depleting oil reserves will still need to be replaced. The necessity to find new supplies should cause prices to rise from current levels of about US$60 a barrel to reach US$90 in 2030 and US$103 a barrel in 2040.
Yet despite the flattening of oil demand, worldwide emissions of carbon dioxide from energy will keep increasing after 2040 as developing nations continue to burn coal for power generation, according to the report. US production will reach 20.9 million barrels a day in 2025, when its combined exports of crude and refined oil will overtake Saudi Arabia's.
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Source: BusinessTimes - 🏆 15. / 51 Read more »