Middle East on track to lose energy dominance, says IEA
Innovations put focus on non-Opec players
- Published: 7 Dec 2012 at 00.00
- Newspaper section: Business
Gas supplies from North America and Australia will change the global energy landscape over the next two decades, shifting market domination away from the Middle East, according to the International Energy Agency's World Energy Outlook 2012 report.
Fatih Birol, the IEA's chief economist, said the recent rebound in the US oil and gas industry, driven mainly by the discovery of shale gas and use of upstream technologies to unlock what is known as "tight oil", has spurred economic activity in that country.
Less expensive electricity prices will enable the US to become the largest global energy trader, overtaking Saudi Arabia by 2020, while North America will become a net oil exporter by 2030, he said.
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