(Local News Sources) The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) says its research estimates a huge oil market deficit of 23 million barrels per day (bp/d) by 2030, if investment in the global upstream industry is not sustained.
The oil cartel also said that global cumulative oil-related investments of 17.4 trillion dollars were required by 2050 to meet up the energy demand.
OPEC Secretary-General, Haitham Al Ghais said this at the (NOG) Energy Week Conference and Exhibition at the international conference center in Abuja the penultimate week.
Al Ghais said that to meet the world’s growing need for energy, investment levels in all energies must increase significantly.
Adding that the cartel’s global oil outlook indicated global primary energy demand to grow by 23 percent between 2025 and 2050, to be he driven by a combination of factors which will not exclude demographics, urbanization and economic growth.
He said: “The global population is expected to rise from around 8.2 billion in 2024 to almost 9.7billion by 2050. This growth will be concentrated almost entirely in the non-OPEC region.
“Moreover, almost 1.9 billion people are expected to move to cities by 2050. This is equivalent to adding around 111 cities, the size of Lagos, or 452 cities, the size of Abuja, to the global urban landscape.
“While this will challenge energy infrastructure, it also represents an opportunity to mitigate energy poverty for the estimated 675 million people who remain without access to energy, and the 2.3 billion who lack clean cooking fuels.
“These trends alone demonstrate that accelerating global energy progress will clearly require all energies, especially hydrocarbons,” he said.
Al Ghais said OPEC’s World Oil Outlook expects oil to retain the largest share of the energy mix in 2050, at almost 30 percent, while oil and gas were expected to remain above 50 percent between 2024 and 2050.
He added that developing countries – many of which still faced energy poverty and limited access to finance – must be allowed to utilize their natural resources to benefit their economies and people.
“This is why OPEC will continue to prioritize partnership to secure a balanced and stable oil market, especially through the Declaration of Cooperation and the Charter of Cooperation.
“Technological advances improve performance across the entire oil industry value chain.
“This is why OPEC Member Countries and national oil companies are driving technological innovation, with thousands of patents granted to the oil industry each year.
“Innovation fuels progress, enabling cleaner, more secure, and more affordable energy solutions,” the OPEC Secretary-General said.
The theme of the conference was, “Accelerating Global Energy Progress through Investment, Partnerships and Innovation.”