Crude oil demand may go up to 110 million barrels per day in next two

Kuala Lumpur: Nearly 500 million people worldwide are expected to move to cities over the next seven years due to the growth of the global economy. Due to this, the fuel requirement will increase more. The demand for essential crude oil will rise to 110 million barrels per day in the next decades, claimed the Secretary General of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). While speaking at the ‘Energy Asia Conference’ in Malaysia, OPEC Secretary-General Haitham Al Ghais predicted that it would be impossible to introduce a new alternative to crude oil in the near future.

Moreover, the international demand for crude oil is nearly 200 million to 240 million barrels daily. Besides, given climate change and the Russia-Ukraine conflict, many countries have started increasing the use of clean and green energy, which they are also hugely invested in. Thus, the use of alternatives to natural fuels – air, solar energy, hydrogen, biomass, nuclear energy, and electric vehicles is increasing rapidly. Due to this, investment in the crude oil sector has started decreasing, and many countries have announced ambitious plans to stop using it in the next few decades.

Against this background, the statement made by the Secretary General of OPEC attracted much attention. According to OPEC, the world fuel demand will increase by 23 per cent by 2045. The use of fuels, wind, hydroelectricity, nuclear energy, hydrogen and biomass may increase. However, the share of crude oil in the fuel sector will remain the same. Crude oil will account for 29 per cent of the total fuel requirement, said Haitham Al-Ghais, Secretary General of OPEC.

Furthermore, the low investment in the crude oil sector may challenge the current fuel and energy systems’ viability. Al-Ghais also warned that this could create chaos in the fuel sector. In the days to come, the world would not need less, but more oil, he also claimed during this period.

A few weeks ago, the International Energy Agency (IEA) also predicted that the demand for crude oil would increase. By 2028, the need for essential crude oil will increase to 105.7 million barrels per day, as said by the IEA. Fuel demand will increase in the petrochemical and aviation sectors, as indicated by the IEA.

Two weeks back, OPEC Plus, a group of fuel-producing countries, had decided to reduce production by 11.5.7 million barrels by the end of 2024. Due to this decision, the price of crude oil may reach $107 per barrel by December 2024, and its growth will continue, Goldman Sachs has expressed.

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