Blog

Authored by Irina Slav via OilPrice.com,

• In its latest World Energy Outlook, the International Energy Agency has reiterated its claim that crude oil, natural gas, and coal demand will peak before 2030.

• The agency sees the emergence of a new clean energy economy as providing hope for the way forward, emphasizing the economic case for clean energy technologies.

• The report focuses on the importance of resilience and energy security, particularly due to the geopolitical developments currently disrupting energy markets.

Demand for oil, natural gas, and coal is set to peak before 2030, which undermines the case for increasing investment in fossil fuels.

This is one of the outtakes from the International Energy Agency’s World Energy Outlook, released earlier today.

While the agency does admit that investment in fossil fuels will remain necessary, it claims the growth era is over.

Last month, the agency’s head, Fatih Birol, wrote in an op-ed that oil, gas, and coal demand were all going to peak before 2030 thanks to the increase in EV adoption and slower Chinese GDP growth.

Now, this is being reiterated in the IEA’s outlook, which talks about the emergence of “a new clean energy economy, led by solar PV and electric vehicles.” The report notes that investment in “clean energy” has gone up by 40% since 2020, emphasizing the point that lowering emissions has not been the single motivator.

According to the IEA, “The economic case for mature clean energy technologies is strong” and energy security is an increasingly important consideration, too.

When Birol first mentioned peak oil, gas, and coal, he prompted an immediate reaction from OPEC, which slammed the head of the IEA for making unwise predictions that could threaten the world’s energy supply security.

The release of the World Energy Outlook may now prompt a similar response from OPEC, which forecast recently that demand for oil is going to continue rising at least until 2045.