The International Energy Agency (IEA) announced that global demand for oil and gas may continue to rise until 2050, marking a departing from its previous forecasts that had predicted a faster shift toward clean fuels.
The Agency,
headquartered in France, said in its World Energy Outlook 2025 report that oil
demand could reach 113 million barrels per day by mid-century, an increase of
13 per cent compared to 2024 levels.
It added that global
energy demand is expected to rise by 15 per cent by 2035 under the current
policies scenario, which assumes the continuation of existing government
measures without factoring in more ambitious climate goals.
The report also
pointed to a significant potential increase in liquefied natural gas (LNG)
projects, with around 300 billion cubic meters of additional export capacity to
be added by 2030.
This would expand the
market from 560 billion cubic meters in 2024 to more than one trillion cubic
meters by 2050, driven by growing demand in sectors such as artificial
intelligence and data centres.
The IEA further
projected that investments in data centres could reach $580 billion in 2025,
surpassing global annual spending on oil, which currently stands at around $540
billion.
