The world's energy watchdog on Saturday forecast that oil demand will increase dramatically over the next 20 years and OPEC countries in the Middle East will remain key producers.
"The volume of world oil demand is projected at close to 115 million barrels per day (bpd) in 2020, compared to 76 million bpd in 2000," said Robert Priddle, executive director of the Paris-based International Energy Agency (IEA).
"There is a very strong role for oil that continues to grow in demand," he told reporters in Riyadh -- where he is attending the 7th International Energy Forum -- at an advance launch of the IEA's World Energy Outlook-2000.
"The projections outlined here point to a fossil future, a continuing strong role for oil as a transport fuel and a further expansion of international oil trade.
"The main consuming nations ... will become considerably more reliant on oil and gas imports," Priddle said, adding that the "physical world oil resource base is adequate to meet the projected increase in demand to 2020."
"But getting these resources onto the world market will demand large and sustained capital investment," he said.
Priddle said OPEC output from the Middle East would remain "critical, particularly over the period 2010 to 2020."
"There is little doubt that Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar have the resources to produce what the world will need from them.
"The key will be for them to attract sufficient, sustained and timely capital investment." – RIYADH (AFP)
© 2000 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
