IEA 'whistleblower' says peak oil nearing

The United States has played an influential role in encouraging the IEA to underplay the rate of decline from existing oil fields, the Guardian said.

The newspaper cites an unnamed senior IEA official as saying the U.S. has also encouraged the Paris-based organisation, formed to try to safeguard energy supplies, to overplay the chances of finding new reserves.

The International Energy Agency cut its long-term forecast for global oil demand as the economic crisis saps consumption in developed economies and environmental policies encourage alternative energy use.

Global oil demand is expected to advance 1 percent a year to 105 million barrels a day by 2030 from 85 million barrels a day in 2008, the adviser to 28 nations said today in its annual World Energy Outlook. The figure is below last year's 2030 estimate of 106 million barrels a day.

“The global financial crisis and ensuing recession have had a dramatic impact on the outlook for energy markets,” the Paris-based agency said in its executive summary of the report. “World energy demand in aggregate has already plunged with the economic contraction.”

Governments have urged consumers to reduce energy consumption to lower carbon emissions and cut dependence on imported fuel. U.S. President Barack Obama last month announced US$3.4 billion in grants to boost the efficiency of the country's power-transmission network. As demand growth slows, the world may still face a supply crunch and surging prices as the recession crimps investment in new projects, the agency said.

Climate-change legislation will also slow long-term crude oil demand, the IEA said. The United Nations will host delegates from 192 nations in Copenhagen next month to seek a new treaty on emission reductions for industrialized and developing economies.

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