2013 energy consumption below average, prices ‘unusually’ stable: BP

LONDON (ICIS)–The world’s energy consumption in 2013 grew 2.3% year on year, higher than the 1.8% growth registered in 2012 but lower than the 10-year average of 2.5%, UK oil major BP said on Monday.

The BP Statistical Review of World Energy 2014 (the 63rd edition) looks at global energy consumption trends, and links them to the observed economic performance as well as to geopolitical events which also affected energy consumption or output in 2013. 

The review says most of the global energy demand (80%) in 2013 came from emerging economies. Moreover, those economies accounted for nearly 100% of the growth registered in the last 10 years.

On emerging countries, another trend BP observed in 2013 was how energy consumption grew below the long-term average rate, rising by 3.1%, driven by slower growth in China.

On the other hand, consumption in the mature economies of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) grew by a higher-than-average rate of 1.2% as a result of strong growth in the US.

As a consequence, the gap between growth in the OECD countries and non-OECD countries narrowed to levels not seen since 2000, said the oil major.

BP also said geopolitical events have had an influence in the supply of oil, like the crisis in Lybia on the back of “renewed civil unrest” although the disruptions were offset by an increase of oil production in the US on the back of the “massive” investment in production from shale and other tight formations.

“As a net result, average oil prices remained unusually stable – albeit at levels exceeding $100 per barrel for a third consecutive year,” said the company.

BP said more than 5% of the global power consumption in 2013 came from renewable energies, but the company warned against the “challenge of sustaining expensive subsidy regimes”.

“The major disruptions to production seen throughout 2013 were balanced by continued rises in production elsewhere. This underlines the importance of continuing to secure these new supplies through continued access to new resources, policies to encourage markets and investment, and the application of new technologies worldwide,” said BP Group’s CEO Bob Dudley.