Oil and Gas Will Continue to Dominate the Energy Market Until 2040

The American company ExxonMobil has released a report stating that oil and gas will continue to dominate global energy markets until 2040. According to this report, published on Monday, January 25, on the official website of this energy giant, the share of oil and gas in global energy supply will even slightly increase by 2040, and coal, as the second-largest fuel supplier, will be replaced by natural gas. The report further states that the share of renewable energies such as wind and solar energy will triple during this period, but their overall contribution to global energy supply will remain very low, around four percent. The report also notes that greenhouse gas emissions will trend upward until 2030. In this context, the French news agency reported that this report is unlikely to excite environmental activists and some shareholders of the company, particularly those who argue for a swift transition away from oil and gas to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Company officials claim that their forecasts are unbiased and not politically motivated. William Colton, the company's chief strategist, states that ExxonMobil uses the outlook presented in its report to advance its business strategies and plan for major investments. The French news agency notes that this report follows ExxonMobil's last global energy outlook report from December 2014; however, many events have occurred since then, including an unexpected drop in oil prices, the lifting of sanctions on Iran, and the global agreement reached at the Paris conference to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Nevertheless, the French news agency states that ExxonMobil's assessment of the long-term energy outlook remains consistent with its previous report. According to this report, global energy demand is expected to increase by about 25 percent from 2014 to 2040, with most of the increase coming from developing Asian countries, as well as South America and the Middle East. Oil demand is also expected to rise by 25 percent during this period, but its share of the global energy mix will slightly decrease. Meanwhile, the share of gas in global energy markets will grow by 56 percent. Overall, the share of oil and gas in global energy supply will reach 57 percent, up from 56 percent two years ago. However, the share of coal in the global energy mix is expected to decrease from the current 26 percent to 20 percent. Nuclear and biomass energies will each have an eight percent share, and by that time, hydropower and other renewable energies will account for three percent and four percent, respectively. ExxonMobil also assesses that greenhouse gas emissions will increase by about 11 percent from 2014 to 2040. 'Greenhouse gas emissions in industrialized countries will decrease by 21 percent, but in developing countries, they will face a 32 percent increase.' However, Jonathan Koomey, an energy researcher at Stanford University, described ExxonMobil's report as 'a typical assessment from oil and gas companies or government evaluations,' stating that this report ignores the agreement of 200 countries at the Paris conference to reduce greenhouse gases and limit global warming to two degrees Celsius.