By Xinhua,
Paris : The oil industry needs “massive investment” to ward off a possible energy crisis in the next 20 years, the International Energy Agency (IEA) has warned.
“The immediate risk to supply is not one of a lack of global resources, but rather a lack of investment where it is needed,” the agency Thursday said in a summary of its annual World Energy Outlook report to be published next week.
“Massive investment in energy infrastructure will be needed” to raise production capacity to meet increasing demands, the report said.
Statistics showed that lack of investment would cause the output of some 800 oil fields to fall by up to 10.5 percent a year on average from 2008 to 2030.
Meanwhile, the IEA said global daily oil consumption would rise to 106 million barrels by 2030, or an overall increase of 45 percent.
The world needs to invest $26 trillion during that period, over $4 trillion more than last year’s forecast, the report said.
The IEA said the global financial crisis would not “affect long-term investment” in the oil industry, but could delay the completion of current projects.