Oil will retain largest share in energy mix – OPEC

The demand for crude oil is projected to increase by about nine million barrels per day in future, as oil will continue to retain its largest share in the global energy mix, the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries has said.

Secretary-General of OPEC, Mohammad Barkindo, disclosed this in his address during the virtual OPEC/World Economic Forum Connect meeting in Vienna, Austria on Monday.

Nigeria is a strong member of OPEC, as the country has been implementing the crude oil production cuts introduced by the organisation to boost global oil prices since last year.

Barkindo said the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in the sharpest downturn in energy and oil demand in living memory, something nobody could have foreseen when members of the organisation met last year.

He noted that all forms of energy would be needed to support the post-pandemic recovery and address future energy needs, but pointed out that crude oil would retain its largest share of the global energy mix.

The OPEC scribe said, “Oil is expected to retain the largest share of the energy mix throughout the outlook period, accounting for a 27 per cent share in 2045.

“World oil demand is projected to increase from nearly 100 million barrels per day in 2019 to around 109mb/d in 2045.”

He, however, noted that to meet this future demand, the global oil sector would need a cumulative investment of $12.6tn in the upstream, midstream and downstream through to 2045.

Barkindo also told his listeners that calls by OPEC over the decades for cooperation ultimately culminated in a formalised form with 10 non-OPEC producing countries under the Declaration of Cooperation, signed on December 10, 2016.

He further stated that on April 12, 2020, OPEC and its partners undertook the largest output adjustments in the history of the oil industry in order to counter the unprecedented demand contraction caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.