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This week’s call from the International Energy Agency (IEA) for continued investment in existing oil and gas fields is another moment of truth for the Paris-based agency, highlighting its inconsistent messages about upstream investment, OPEC says.
OPEC reviewed the messages the IEA has issued since 2017 in an article published on its website.
The agency shifted its position that investments are needed at some point between 2018 and 2021. By May 2021, the IEA was already advocating for no investments in new oil and gas fields for a chance to reach net zero.
“However, the IEA executed something of a pleasant U-turn this week,” OPEC said, commenting on the words of IEA’s Executive Director, Fatih Birol, from Monday that the world needs upstream investments in existing oil and gas fields to support global energy security.
“I want to make it clear … there would be a need for investment, especially to address the decline in the existing fields. There is a need for oil and gas upstream investments, full stop,” Birol said at the CERAWeek by S&P Global conference in Houston.
Referring to the latest IEA message, OPEC said “Agencies that recognize the responsibility that comes from offering analysis of the long-term perspectives of the industry should not be shifting positions or mixing messages and narratives every couple of years on this matter, particularly ones that were founded to ensure the security of oil supplies.”
OPEC has slammed the IEA in recent years for “dangerous” forecasts of imminent peak oil demand that would hurt consumers and “only lead to energy volatility on a potentially unprecedented scale.”
The world still needs hundreds of billions of U.S. dollars in investments in oil and gas projects every year, OPEC says.
“Time will tell about the full ramifications of the IEA’s calls to stop investing in new projects in the oil industry during the 2021-2024 period,” according to the organization.
“Hopefully, the Agency can return to analysis based on energy realities and focus on its mandate of energy security. In doing so, the IEA can look to a willing partner in OPEC.”
