Around $10 trillion will be required in oil and gas investment globally over the next 25 years to meet the world’s rising energy demand, Abdallah Salem el-Badri, secretary-general of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries said on Monday.
“Global demand for crude oil will rise to 110 million barrels (a day) … this will require $10 trillion in investments by 2040,” Badri was quoted as saying by ISNA during the Third Summit of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum in Tehran.
According to reports, from 2014 to 2015, the oil industry has seen a fall in exploration and production investment of around $130 billion, or a 20% year-on-year drop.
“Oil and natural gas supply meet about 50% of total energy demand in the world,” he said.
The official predicted that oil market will return to more balance in 2016 and said the Middle East, where many OPEC members are located, will supply a large part of the world’s energy by 2040.
The global oil benchmark, Brent Crude, stood at around $115 in June 2014, but prices went down to $70 per barrel last September when overproduction from the United States caused prices to dip.
Prices continued to sink to $40-50 in early 2015 after OPEC member states, and in particular the world’s biggest crude exporter Saudi Arabia, decided to keep production unchanged in November 2014.
The Third GECF Summit brought together Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and eight other heads of state of GECF members, namely Russia, Bolivia, Venezuela, Algeria, Iraq, Turkmenistan, Equatorial Guinea and Nigeria.
International Energy Forum Secretary-General Aldo Flores-Quiroga also said during his speech at the summit on Monday that the world will rely on natural gas as a major energy source “for years to come”.
He pointed to the issue of climate change and called for raising gas consumption among GECF member states as one of the cleanest forms of fossil fuels.
Rouhani said the convention of GECF members, who together control over 70% of the world’s natural gas reserves, was aimed at finding solutions to maintain the collective interest of GECF members, expand intergovernmental cooperation in natural gas exploration, production and trade, and boost the forum’s position in the global energy arena.
