Oil demand may begin to peak soon: report

LONDON (Reuters) – World oil demand could begin to peak over the next decade as worries over security of supply, extreme price swings and climate change force a move towards other forms of energy, consultancy Arthur D. Little said.

In a report entitled “The Beginning of the End for Oil?,” the consultancy’s Peter Hughes suggests the extraordinary price moves over the last year, environmental pressures and concerns that most of the world’s oil is imported from volatile regions has concentrated minds in the big consuming countries.


Oil hit an all-time high of almost $150 per barrel last July but has since tumbled more than 70 percent to around $40.

“The penny has dropped. To varying degrees, governments across the globe are acknowledging publicly, many for the first time, that decreasing reliance on imported oil — and quickly — is becoming an energy policy imperative,” the report said.

Reuters