According to the recently published 2017 edition, global demand for energy is expected to grow by an average of 1.3 percent per year. However, this growth in energy demand is significantly lower than the 3.4 percent per year rise expected in global GDP, reflecting improved energy efficiency driven by technology improvements and environmental concerns.
The Outlook looks at long-term energy trends and develops projections for world energy markets over the next two decades.
While non-fossil fuels are expected to account for half of the growth in energy supplies over the next 20 years, the Outlook projects that oil and gas, together with coal, will remain the main source of energy powering the world economy, accounting for more than 75 percent of total energy supply in 2035, compared with 86 percent in 2015.
Oil
Oil demand is expected to grow at an average rate of 0.7 percent a year, although this is expected to slow gradually over the period. The transport sector continues to consume most of the world’s oil with its share of global demand remaining close to 60 percent in 2035. However, non-combusted use of oil, particularly in petrochemicals, takes over as the main source of growth for oil demand by the early 2030s.
