Al-Ghais expects global energy demand to rise 24% by 2050

Haitham Al Ghais, OPEC Secretary-General 

OPEC Secretary-General Haitham Al-Ghais expects global energy demand to turn 24% higher by 2050, with the global economy more than doubling and the world population reaching 9.7 billion persons.

In an article published on OPEC’s website, Al-Ghais pointed out that policies aimed at zero emissions are often misled by calls to withdraw investments in oil, gas and coal, without factoring in the relevant impact on global energy security.

“Many net-zero policies promoted unrealistic timelines or had little regard for energy security, affordability or feasibility,” he wrote.

According to Al-Ghais, OPEC estimates a huge oil market deficit of 23 million barrels per day (bpd) by 2030 if investment in the global upstream industry stopped today.

This drastic shortfall could severely disrupt critical sectors, from transportation to healthcare, and hamper global energy security. "The ensuing volatility would severely hamper key sectors like transportation, emergency services, construction, manufacturing, food production, healthcare and infrastructure, to name but a few," he explained.

Al-Ghais stressed that this does not mean that OPEC does not support reducing emissions. It is rather working to address current and future energy challenges, seeing the need to pump huge investments into all types of fuel and technology.