IEA says higher oil demand in 2010 and beyond

The IEA says that demand for crude oil after 2010 may increase significantly and this may pose a risk to the global recovery, chief IEA economist Fatih Birol said on Monday.

“In 2010, there are signs there will be a small green sign. After 2010, with the improvement in the global economy, we may see a very strong increase in oil demand, which may pose a risk for the global recovery,” Birol said in Warsaw. Birol said earlier this month that oil prices would threaten a rebound in the global economy if they rose beyond current levels.

Crude oil prices are up more than 70 per cent this year, but is still roughly half its July 2008 high of more than $147 a barrel.

“We see some improvement in oil and electricity consumption around the globe. There are some good signs in developing countries, mainly driven by China, but we can not yet say that global energy demand is on the green side, it is still declining,” Birol said.

Tags:  2010, IEA, oil demand