IEA refutes ‘peak oil’, points to lack of investment

Insufficient investment, political instability and blocked access to key oil and gas reserves have distorted the global fossil fuel market and driven up prices, according to the International Energy Agency, which has downplayed concerns about imminent oil shortages.

For many oil companies, buying oil on increasingly volatile and expensive global crude markets is less risky than investing in new extraction facilities, the International Energy Agency’s (IEA) William Ramsay said on 31 January in Brussels.

The comments were made during a conferenceexternal on the EU’s external energy relations organised by the Institut francais des relations internationales (IFRI ).


During his presentation, Ramsay noted that the majority of the world’s key oil and gas reserves are located in places either largely off-limits to investors – Saudi Arabia and Venezuela, for instance – or in places that are plagued by political instability and even violent conflict, such as Iraq or the Caspian Sea region.

As a result, the crucial supply-side investments and reserve explorations needed to respond to steadily rising global demand for oil and gas are not being made, causing disruptions in the market and leading to higher prices, he said.

EurActiv