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Opec secretary general Haitham Al Ghais reiterated yesterday that more investment is needed in oil and gas, saying oil will continue to account for about 30 per cent 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 23pc 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 four 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.
Meanwhile, Kuwait’s Oil Minister Tareq Al Roumi said Opec is moving to appoint “one of the top consultants” to visit member states and assess their production capacity in the coming months.
Opec+ ministers asked Opec’s headquarters in May to develop a mechanism to assess the maximum sustainable production capacity for each member, which will be used as reference for their 2027 production baselines.
Determining the maximum production capacity of each Opec or Opec+ member is contentious because some, such as the UAE, have increased their production capacity, pressing the case for higher quotas.
Meanwhile others, such as African members, have seen declines. Angola quit the group in 2024 over a disagreement on its production target.
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