OPEC Secretary General Haitham Al Ghais reiterated on Wednesday that more investment is needed in oil and gas, saying oil will continue to account for about 30% of the global energy mix by 2050.
A growing economy, population growth and urbanisation all lead “to one clear signal that the world will need much more energy than it is consuming today”, he said in remarks to the Russian Energy Week conference in Moscow.
He forecast 23% growth in primary energy demand by 2050.
“Yes, it’s a turbulent world and a lot going on, but that’s a constant. And for us in OPEC the constant is the ability to keep all that noise away from the technical, sound, detailed analysis that we do,” he added.
OPEC’s demand forecasts are at the higher end of industry estimates, as it expects a slower energy transition than other forecasters, such as the International Energy Agency, which has forecast peak oil demand in 2029 and a supply glut of as much as 4 million barrels per day (bpd) in 2026.
OPEC+, which groups OPEC, Russia and other allies, is adding more crude to the market after member countries decided to unwind some output cuts more rapidly than earlier scheduled. The extra supply is adding to fears of a glut and weighing on oil prices this year.
(Reporting by Youssef Saba in Dubai, Vladimir Soldatkin and Olesya Astakhova in Moscow, Writing by Ahmed Elimam; Editing by Louise Heavens and Emelia Sithole-Matarise)