Opec stresses adequate investments to ensure energy security

Oil industry needs $12.1 trillion investments between now and 2045

Published: Sun 15 Oct 2023, 3:43 PM

By
Issac John

An oil well in Garden City, Texas. — AFP

Lack of future investment in the oil sector is set to jeopardise global energy security and could send crude prices to $100 a barrel, Opec has said.

Opec General Secretary Haitham Al Ghais said the global oil industry requires a total investment of at least $12.1 trillion between now and 2045 to prevent a spike in energy prices, warning underinvestment in the oil sector is dangerous. “By underinvesting, we are actually endangering energy security,” he said, echoing the viewpoint of the UAE Energy Minister Suhail Al Mazrouei, who has stressed the need to continue investment in oil and gas alongside energy transition commitments.

Al Ghais stressed the need for all forms of energy given that global energy demand is expected to climb 23 per cent by 2045.

Opec anticipates demand to continue rising until 2045 and climb to 116 million barrels per day, 6.0 million barrels per day more than it predicted last year.

This demand growth will be led by India, China, other Asian nations, Africa, and the Middle East.

Opec forecasts contrast with IEA predictions that coal, oil, and natural gas consumption could peak before 2030. The organisation also expects its total share of the oil market to rise from 34 per cent to 40 per cent by 2045, with output from the rest of the world declining in the early 2030s.