Oil production in non-Opec countries will peak within the next two years, increasing the world’s reliance on the cartel of oil exporting nations, according to a leading energy expert.
Fatih Birol, chief economist of the International Energy Agency, said that falling production from key regions such as the North Sea and the Gulf of Mexico would leave international oil companies such as Shell and BP sidelined, as state run rivals such as Saudi Aramco become more powerful, The Times reported.
The North Sea is one of the fastest-declining energy-rich regions in the world, with output falling by an average of 7.5 per cent a year since 2002.
Dr Birol, who is leading an investigation into the condition of the world’s largest oilfields, said that the world was entering a “new oil order”, where prices would be sustained by new demand emerging from China, India and the Middle East.
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