Global energy demand will increase faster than the rate of population growth through 2050, contradicting projections that demand will peak this decade, according to the CEO of Kuwait Petroleum Corporation.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe world population is going to increase by about 25% between now and 2050, but energy demand will increase faster than that,\u201d Shaikh Nawaf al-Sabah told the CERAWeek by S&P Global energy conference in response to a question about whether demand will peak by 2030.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat means that we\u2019re going to require more energy intensity for the population in the world,\u201d al-Sabah said. Three-quarters of a billion people in the developing world have no electricity and nearly 2.5 billion people have no clean cooking solutions, according to the CEO.<\/p>\n
That is going to have to change,\u201d Al-Sabah said. \u201cThe global south will be a large component of energy demand in the future. And it\u2019s only fair to have countries that have \u2013 to use a term \u2013 energy poverty, be able to exploit natural resources in a clean and efficient manner.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Paris-based International Energy Agency forecast in October that demand for oil, coal and natural gas would peak before the end of this decade as clean energy technologies play a bigger role in the global energy mix. The IEA\u2019s projection has been a point of contention during discussions at the CERAWeek conference this week.<\/p>\n
Saudi Aramco CEO Amin Nasser said Monday at CERAWeek that projections of peak oil demand this decade are focused on Western nations. More than 85% of the world\u2019s population, however, lives in developing countries, he said.<\/p>\n
Demand growth potential in developing nations is significant with oil consumption ranging between 1 to just below 2 barrels per person per year, Nasser said. That compares to 9 barrels per person in the European Union and 22 barrels per person in the U.S., he said.<\/p>\n
The energy transition will be largely determined by developing nations, which receive just 5% of investments that target renewables, Nasser said. The current energy transition strategy is failing and needs a reset, Nasser said. Many alternative energy sources are currently unaffordable for a majority of people around the world, he added.<\/p>\n
The world needs to abandon the \u201cfantasy\u201d of phasing out oil and gas, said Nasser, calling for investments that reflect realistic assumptions for hydrocarbons.<\/p>\n
The Kuwait Petroleum Corporation plans to increase its production capacity to 4 million barrels per day by 2035 from 3 million bpd currently, Al-Sabah said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe reason we want to get to 4 million a barrels a day during that period, is because we see demand increasing throughout this energy transition,\u201d Al-Sabah said. Crude demand will remain a central part of the energy mix in the coming decades, according to the CEO.
\nSource: CNBC<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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