Merrill Lynch says global oil production will decline further in coming years

Global oil production decline rate is set to accelerate in the coming years, according to a new research report.

“The global decline rate has averaged at least 4.5 per cent year-on-year in recent years. These rates, however, could accelerate further over the next few years,” Merrill Lynch said in its recent update.


The New York-based financial advisory company produced several reasons in support of its argument.

It blamed the emphasis on developing small oil fields in past years and lack of regular investments for the expected decline.

Merrill said the non-Opec oil production may have already peaked, implying, non-Opec producers that meet 60 per cent of the world’s oil demand will have a stagnated production. It apprehended that a resulting deceleration in production may aggravate further due to the credit crunch.

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