Global oil demand is projected to reach 120.1 million barrels per day (mb/d) by 2050, while energy demand will rise 24% during the same period, said the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) Secretary General Haitham Al Ghais at the African Energy Week: Invest in African Energies 2024 conference last week.

OPEC’s World Oil Outlook 2050, published earlier this year, projects that global oil demand i will reach 112.3 mb/d in 2029, representing a strong increase of 10.1 mb/d compared to 2023. However, the regional breakdown of this medium-term expansion shows a contrasting picture between continued non-OECD demand growth and rather stagnating OECD demand.

Non-OECD oil demand is projected to increase by 9.6 mb/d between 2023 and 2029 to reach 66.2 mb/d, while OECD demand is set to oscillate around 46 mb/d over the same period.

In the long term, global oil demand is expected to increase by almost 18 mb/d, rising from 102.2 mb/d in 2023 to the forecast 120.1 mb/d in 2050. While non-OECD demand is projected to increase by 28 mb/d between 2023 and 2050, OECD demand is set to witness a decline.

Al Ghais said that African producers will play a central role in meeting rising demand.

Demand will be fueled by a world economy that is expected to more than double in size to more than $360 trillion by 2050. Driving this economic growth is the rapidly expanding world population, expected to reach 9.7 billion from the current 8 billion. Urbanization globally will continue to intensify. Over 600 million people are expected to move to new cities around the world, including Africa.

—Haitham Al Ghais

Al Ghais emphasized the need to increase investment in oil and gas in Africa, which faces an energy crisis with more than 600 million people lacking access to electricity and more than 900 million people lacking access to clean cooking solutions.

Oil and gas will remain the predominant fuels in the energy mix. To ensure security of supply to fuel this demand, our industries need to invest and boost investment levels significantly in the years to come.

For Africa, the future looks bright. It has an estimated 125 billion barrels of proven reserves of oil. It is vital that African countries develop these resources with access to the necessary funding and technology. This is vital for the economic and social development of the continent and its people.

—Haitham Al Ghais