OPEC has critiqued IEA’s World Energy Outlook 2024 by arguing that some of IEA’s visions and estimates don’t align with current energy realities.
While the IEA asserts that demand for coal, oil, and gas will peak by the end of the decade, OPEC points out that these fossil fuels still constitute about 80% of the global energy mix, making it misleading to define the future by electricity alone. OPEC also challenges the IEA’s view of energy history as a series of competing “Ages” (Coal, Oil, and now Electricity), emphasizing that energy sources coexist and are mutually dependent rather than in competition.
For instance, despite the IEA’s claim that the “Age of Coal” is over, OPEC notes that coal demand reached a historic high in 2023. Similarly, oil demand in 2023 surpassed pre-pandemic levels, showing that fossil fuels are far from obsolete.
OPEC also highlights challenges to the IEA’s vision of electrification, such as the slow growth in the availability of critical minerals and the massive infrastructure expansion required to meet future electricity demand. Furthermore, OPEC stresses the continued importance of petroleum products in the mining, steel, and cement sectors, which are essential to both traditional and renewable energy industries.
OPEC advocates for a more inclusive approach to energy, emphasizing that the needs of the 685 million people without electricity and the 2.1 billion reliant on unsafe cooking fuels must be considered. They call for an “all-peoples, all-energies, and all-technologies” strategy, cautioning against underinvestment in oil and gas, which they see as essential for energy security.
