Adedapo Adesanya
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has said its members, including Nigeria, will continue to see demand for crude oil continue to grow for the next two decades despite mounting efforts to limit climate change.
In the cartel’s 2023 annual report released on Monday, it predicted that demand for crude to reach 116 million barrels per day by 2045 under its main scenario, a 16.5 per cent increase from the 99.4 million barrels per day in 2022.
That is an increase of 6 million barrels per day from its estimate last year.
According to the Vienna-based group, aside from its 13 member states, which include Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, Algeria, Angola, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the Republic of Congo, Libya, and Venezuela, oil demand will be driven by emerging and developing nations, with India in the leading position.
Meanwhile, it sees oil demand in the OECD club of advanced economies declining from 2025.
In order to meet this demand OPEC says additional investment in fossil fuel production will be needed, putting the figure at $14 trillion by 2045, or roughly $610 billion per year.
Speaking on this, the Secretary-General of OPEC, Mr Haitham Al Ghais said oil demand has “the potential to be even higher.”
“What is clear is that the world will continue to need more energy in the decades to come,” he emphasised in the forward to the report — which comes just eight weeks before the next UN climate conference, COP28, in Dubai.
“At the conference, dozens of countries will try to impose the adoption of the objective of an end to the use of fossil fuels like oil, natural gas, and coal.
“It is vital that these are made; it is beneficial for both producers and consumers,” said Mr Al Ghais.
“Calls to stop investments in new oil projects are misguided and could lead to energy and economic chaos,” he warned, in criticism aimed at the International Energy Agency (IEA). In 2021, the IEA surprised the world and shocked oil exporting nations by calling for a halt in new investment in fossil fuel production to attain carbon neutrality by 2050.
