IEA calls for
investment in oil-rich Middle East, North African countries
Nov 7, 2005 - Xinhua English Newswire
IEA calls for investment in oil-rich Middle East, North African
countries
PARIS, Nov. 7 (Xinhua) -- The International Energy Agency (IEA)
released Monday a report, warning the world will suffer if oil- rich
Middle Eastern and North African countries fail to invest sufficiently
in energy production by 2030.
The report said some largest-energy producing states in the Middle
East, including Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United
Arab Emirates, as well as North African producers such as Algeria, Egypt
and Libya would be responsible for 44 percent of world oil production by
2030, against 35 percent at present.
The Paris-based IEA suggested that some Middle East and North African
producers "could choose deliberately to develop production capacity more
slowly".
It also said that the producers themselves would suffer in the
absence of robust investment, since many of them are heavily dependent
on revenues from crude oil sales.
Consuming countries on the other hand would press ahead with "
vigorous new policy measures" aimed at rationalizing energy use and
switching from fossil fuels, the report said, adding stronger action on
conservation would mean a fall in oil and gas demand in the main
consuming regions, leading to reduced Middle East and North African
exports and lower prices.
The IEA pointed out that policies of producing and consuming
countries change in response to each other to market developments and to
shifts in market power and that there was now a case for improved market
transparency and for a better exchange of information between the two
groups.
© Copyright 2005 NetContent, Inc. Duplication and
distribution restricted.
Visit http://www.powermarketers.com/index.shtml
for excellent coverage on your energy news front.
|