Electric cars are taking over the streets, big companies are trying to be nicer to the environment and people are taking action to stop climate change.
But here’s a reality check: The world could consume more oil in 2022 than ever before.
Global energy demand rebounded strongly this year as pandemic restrictions eased, and it’s expected to rise further in 2022.
The International Energy Agency predicts that global oil demand will increase by 3.3 million barrels per day next year to 99.5 million barrels per day. That would match the previous demand record in 2019, before the pandemic.
Not even Omicron is expected to derail the rebound.
“New containment measures put in place to halt the spread of the virus are likely to have a more muted impact on the economy versus previous Covid waves, not least because of widespread vaccination campaigns,” the IEA wrote in a report earlier this month.
The agency, which monitors energy market trends for the world’s richest countries, said it expects demand for road transportation fuels and petrochemicals to continue to post healthy growth.
