A Portal on Sustainability

Gas and oil supplies

04.05.2005 · Research Group on the Global Future

The Worlds demand for oil in 2004 has reached an all time high. It increased from 76.95 MBpD (Million Barrels per Day; Source: Energy Information Administration in 2001 to 82.63 MBpD in 2004. That equals an increase of round about eight per cent. While the USA still hold one quarter of the Worlds total oil demand, countries like China are catching up fast. Since 2001 the oil consumption of the PR China has increased by 1.71 MBpD or 1/3 to 6.63 MBpD. In contrast Japan and Germany managed to slightly lower their oil demands. Germany from 2.77 in 2001 to 2.67 in 2004 and Japan from 5.61 in 2001 to 5.44 in 2004. Both countries increased their natural gas consumption as well.
The Worlds conventional oil production has not peaked yet. But according to recent analysis this will happen in a few years. An efficient future availability of unconventional oil resources found in certain stone and sand connections will depend on technological improvements of extracting them.

According to the World Resources Institute, an environmental think tank that goes beyond research to create practical ways to protect the Earth and improve people’s lives, serves as an excellent source for energy data, well over a third of global oil supplies have already been consumed. As the demand for oil is growing and oil reserves are shrinking in size across the world, policies to encourage more efficient oil use and the development of alternative energy resources become increasingly urgent.

In addition, key actors in the oil industry, such as e.g. Shell AG's and British Petrol offer comprehensive data on oil reserves, production, trade, and consumption, and feature information and activities with respect to renewable sources of energy. For example, BP Solar is one of the world's largest solar energy companies. Their site aims at providing technical advice as well as costumer support. They also maintain a site on renewable energy and sustainable development, which includes background on biodiversity, climate change, energy efficiency, and how to make organizations more sustainable.

The Energy Information Administration documents, among other types of energy, the increase of gas consumption world wide. Of particular interest are the agency’s future projections of gas consumption patterns in 2025 (34.2 trillion cubic feet), by end-use sector, that considerably supersede current demands (22.6 trillion cubic feet in 2002).