RIYADH, July 11, 2025 (WAFA) – The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) announced that global oil consumption is expected to continue rising at least until 2050, warning that a rapid transition away from fossil fuels is "unrealistic"—a position that runs counter to international climate goals.

In its 2025 World Oil Outlook report, OPEC projects that oil demand will increase by 18.6% between 2024 and 2050, growing from 103.7 million barrels per day to around 123 million barrels per day.

“There is no peak in oil demand expected during this forecast period,” said OPEC Secretary-General Haitham Al Ghais, asserting that oil consumption will not decline over the next 25 years.

The group’s 2025 forecast revises upward its previous estimate from 2024, which had projected a 17% rise in oil demand between 2023 and 2050—from 102.2 million to 120.1 million barrels per day.

These projections sharply contrast with climate experts’ warnings, which call for a rapid phaseout of fossil fuels—including coal, oil, and gas—to avoid surpassing the critical 1.5°C threshold in global warming compared to pre-industrial levels. That target is a central pillar of the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change.

OPEC’s forecast also diverges significantly from that of the International Energy Agency (IEA), which anticipates a slight decline in global oil demand starting in 2030, following a peak the year before. Such a trend would be unprecedented since the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic disrupted global energy consumption.

The Vienna-based organization, led by Saudi Arabia, emphasized that current global energy use—including oil, coal, gas, and even wood—is at record-high levels.

“In recent years, it has become increasingly clear to many policymakers that the idea of quickly phasing out oil and gas is nothing more than a fantasy and is simply unfeasible,” said Al Ghais, criticizing the pace and ambition of global energy transition efforts.

M.N