The International Energy Agency released a report on the world’s oil fields that contains some shocking numbers about the supply and demand for oil over the near term future. Basically the major oil fields are in a death spiral and are being drawn down much faster than previously estimated. Unless the nations of the world can adjust to dire conditions in a hurry the world economy will face overwhelming challenges in the very near term.

Here is the first part of the International Energy Agency report. It is not pleasant reading.

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The World’s Energy System is at a Crossroads.

Current global trends in energy supply and consumption are patently unsustainable — environmentally, economically, socially. But that can — and must — be altered; there’s still time to change the road we’re on.

It is not an exaggeration to claim that the future of human prosperity depends on how successfully we tackle the two central energy challenges facing us today: securing the supply of reliable and affordable energy; and effecting a rapid transformation to a low-carbon, efficient and environmentally benign system of energy supply. What is needed is nothing short of an energy revolution. This World Energy Outlook demonstrates how that might be achieved through decisive policy action and at what cost. It also describes the consequences of failure.

Oil is the world’s vital source of energy and will remain so for many years to come, even under the most optimistic of assumptions about the pace of development and deployment of alternative technology. But the sources of oil to meet rising demand, the cost of producing it and the prices that consumers will need to pay for it are extremely uncertain, perhaps more than ever. The surge in prices in recent years culminating in the price spike of 2008, coupled with much greater short-term price volatility, have highlighted just how sensitive prices are to short-term market imbalances.

They have also alerted people to the ultimately finite nature of oil (and natural gas) resources. In fact, the immediate risk to supply is not one of a lack of global resources, but rather a lack of investment where it is needed. Upstream investment has been rising rapidly in nominal terms, but much of the increase is due to surging costs and the need to combat rising decline rates — especially in higher-cost provinces outside of OPEC. Today, most capital goes to exploring for and developing high-cost reserves, partly because of limitations on international oil company access to the cheapest resources.

Expanding production in the lowest-cost countries will be central to meeting the world’s needs at reasonable cost in the face of dwindling resources in most parts of the world and accelerating decline rates everywhere. Preventing catastrophic and irreversible damage to the global climate ultimately
requires a major decarbonization of the world energy sources.

On current trends, energy-related emissions of carbon-dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gases will rise inexorably, pushing up average global temperature by as much as 6°C in the long term. Strong, urgent action is needed to curb these trends.

The 15th Conference of the Parties, to be held in Copenhagen in November 2009, provides a vital opportunity to negotiate a new global climate-change policy regime for beyond 2012 (the final year of coverage of the first commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol). The conference will need to put in place a framework for long-term co-operative action to bring the world onto a well-defined policy path towards a clear, quantified global goal for the stabilisation of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. It will also need to ensure broad participation and put in place robust policy mechanisms to achieve the agreed objective.

World Energy Outlook 2008

The energy sector will have to play the central role in curbing emissions — through major improvements in efficiency and rapid switching to renewables and other low carbon technologies, such as carbon capture and storage (CCS). Securing energy supplies and speeding up the transition to a low-carbon energy system both call for radical action by governments — at national and local levels, and through participation in co-ordinated international mechanisms. Households, businesses and motorists will have to change the way they use energy, while energy suppliers will need to invest in developing and commercialising low-carbon technologies.

To make this happen, governments have to put in place appropriate financial incentives and regulatory frameworks that support both energy-security and climate-policy goals in an integrated way. Removing subsidies on energy consumption, which amounted to a staggering $310 billion in the 20 largest non-OECD countries in 2007, could make a major contribution to curbing demand and emissions growth. High international oil prices, by deterring consumption and encouraging more efficient demand-side technologies, push in the same direction, but only at the expense of economic growth and of living standards in consuming countries, both rich and poor.

And some of the alternatives to conventional oil that high prices encourage are even more carbon-intensive. Many countries have made progress in crafting national responses, but much more needs to be done. A new international climate agreement is but a first essential step on the road towards a sustainable energy system; effective implementation is just as crucial. Delay in doing either would increase the eventual cost of meeting any given global climate target.

More of the same: a vision of a laisser-faire fossil-energy future.

In our Reference Scenario, world primary energy demand grows by 1.6% per year on average in 2006-2030, from 11 730 Mtoe to just over 17 010 Mtoe — an increase of 45%. To illustrate the course on which we are set, this scenario embodies the effects of those government policies and measures that were enacted or adopted up to mid-2008, but not new ones. This provides a baseline against which we can quantify the extent to which we need to change course. Demand grows at a slower rate than projected in WEO-2007, mainly due to higher energy prices and slower economic growth, especially in OECD countries.

Fossil fuels account for 80% of the world’s primary energy mix in 2030 — down slightly on today. Oil remains the dominant fuel, though demand for coal rises more than demand for any other fuel in absolute terms. The share of the world’s energy consumed in cities — an estimated 7 900 Mtoe in 2006 — grows from two-thirds to almost three-quarters in 2030.

Due to continuing strong economic growth, China and India account for just over half of the increase in world primary energy demand between 2006 and 2030. Middle East countries strengthen their position as an important demand centre, contributing a further 11% to incremental world demand. Collectively, non-OECD countries account for 87% of the increase. As a result, their share of world primary energy demand rises from 51% to 62%. Their energy consumption overtook that of the OECD in 2005. Global primary demand for oil (excluding biofuels) rises by 1% per year on average, from 85 million barrels per day in 2007 to 106 mb/d in 2030.

However, its share of world energy use drops, from 34% to 30%. Oil demand in 2030 has been revised
downwards by 10 mb/d since last year’s Outlook, reflecting mainly the impact of much higher prices and slightly slower GDP growth, as well as new government policies introduced in the past year. All of the projected increase in world oil demand comes from non-OECD countries (over four-fifths from China, India and the Middle East);OECD oil demand falls slightly, due largely to declining non-transport oil demand. Global demand for natural gas grows more quickly, by 1.8% per year, its share in total energy demand rising marginally, to 22%. Most of the growth in gas use comes from the power-generation sector.

World demand for coal advances by 2% a year on average, its share in global energy demand climbing from 26% in 2006 to 29% in 2030. Some 85% of the increase in global coal consumption comes from the power sector in China and India. The share of nuclear power in primary energy demand edges down over the Outlook period, from 6% today to 5% in 2030 (its share of electricity output drops from 15% to 10%), reflecting the consistency of our rule not to anticipate changes in national policies — notwithstanding a recent revival of interest in nuclear power. Nuclear output nonetheless increases in absolute terms in all major regions except OECD Europe.
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For the balance of this important report go to the International Energy Agency Executive Summary.

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