World needs $38 trillion energy investment

The world must invest $38 trillion in oil, gas and electricity infrastructure over the next 25 years to stop prices from soaring, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said today. And about half of that will need to be spent in the power sector

Referring to data from the IEA’s upcoming World Energy Outlook 2011, to be published in November, the agency said $16.9 trillion is needed for electricity generation; $10 trillion in oil; $9.5 trillion in natural gas; $1.1 trillion in coal; and $300 billion on biofuels. “This means, more or less, that $1.5 trillion is needed every year [over the next 25 years],” chief economist Fatih Birol told reporters at the IEA ministerial meeting. He highlighted that oil investment was vital in Middle East and North African (Mena) countries, because 90% of the required growth in crude production over the next few years would come from that region. “If the investment doesn’t come through in those countri