THE Secretary General, Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries, OPEC, Haitham Al Ghais, yesterday, said the world needed to invest $14 trillion between 2023 and 2045 to meet global demand.
In his article – Why OPEC has increased its long-term oil demand outlook in the World Oil Outlook, WOO 2023 – obtained by Vanguard, the secretary general who noted the continued rise in global demand, stated: “In the WOO 2023, investment requirements out to 2045 total $14 trillion, or around $610 billion on average per year. We need a long-term stable investment-friendly climate, one that works for producers and consumers, and we need to move away from the misguided idea of no longer investing in new oil projects.
“In the WOO 2023, investment requirements out to 2045 total $14 trillion, or around $610 billion on average per year. We need a long-term stable investment-friendly climate, one that works for producers and consumers, and we need to move away from the misguided idea of no longer investing in new oil projects.
This past year has seen the OPEC Secretariat research team take on board a variety of energy policy shifts, reassessments of the speed and nature of energy transitions, as well as developments in the economic landscape, to revise up the long-term oil demand outlook in our World Oil Outlook, WOO, 2023 to 116 million barrels a day (mb/d) by 2045.”
He added: “This is more than six mb/d higher than in the WOO 2022, and there is potential for the level to be even higher. It is interesting to note that almost half of this revision comes from OECD countries, which are up by 2.6 mb/d compared to the WOO 2022. In contrast, previous WOOs had seen slight downward revisions to OECD oil demand in 2045.
The OECD oil demand increase comes on the back of significant energy and economic-related developments, as populations glimpse what many initial net zero policies and targets mean for them, and policymakers reevaluate their approach to energy transition pathways.
This has been seen in many European Union nations, the UK, the US, Australia and more, with pushbacks on ambitious policy targets as governments place more priority on energy security and socio-economic development. This also includes the UK postponing the ban of ICE sales and the EU significantly softening EURO 7 emission standards. This will directly affect oil demand in these countries and regions, and will likely have spillover effects to other regions resulting in slower efficiency improvements.
