“The world is in danger.” The International Energy Agency warns of a decline in oil and gas production.
The International Energy Agency warned on Tuesday that oil and gas production continues to decline at a rapid pace in exploited fields worldwide.
The agency revealed, in a report reviewed by Shafaq News Agency, an accelerating decline in oil and gas production from currently operating fields around the world, with investment limited to supporting current operations at best.
It also warned that the accelerating decline in production from existing oil and gas fields has significant repercussions for markets and global energy security.
The report continued: “Without continued investment in these fields, the world will lose an amount equivalent to the combined production of Brazil and Norway (5.5 million barrels per day) annually, representing an average decline of 8% annually over the next decade.”
As for natural gas, the report predicts that production will decline by an average of 9% annually without sufficient investment, or 270 billion cubic meters annually, an amount equivalent to Africa’s current total natural gas production.
He pointed out that this problem has worsened compared to the previous decade, as the expected decline in production without investments in 2010 was estimated at approximately 3.9 million barrels per day for oil and 180 billion cubic meters for gas.
The report attributed the accelerating decline in global production to increased reliance on unconventional resources such as shale oil and deep-sea projects, which have faster depletion rates than conventional fields.
He added that there is a worrying indicator that annual investments in the oil and gas sector since 2019 have been directed toward offsetting the decline in current production, rather than meeting the growth in global energy demand.
The agency concluded its statement by saying, “Global energy companies are making far greater efforts than before simply to maintain current production levels,” expecting that “investments in this sector will reach $570 billion this year.”
Shafaq.com