PARIS: Opec said on Tuesday that phasing out oil was a “fantasy”, as the Saudi-led cartel forecast that demand would keep growing until at least 2050.

The oil cartel’s prediction runs counter to the assessment of the Paris-based International Energy Agency, which sees demand for fossil fuels peaking this decade.

A goal to triple global renewable energy capacity by 2030 and cut fossil fuel use is within reach, the International Energy Agency said in a report on Tuesday, but will require a huge push to unlock bottlenecks such as permitting and grid connections.

In Opec’s annual World Oil Outlook, Secretary General Haitham Al Ghais said oil and gas make up well over half of the energy mix today “and are expected to do the same in 2050”. “What the Outlook underscores is that the fantasy of phasing out oil and gas bears no relation to fact,” Ghais said in the report’s foreword.

“A realistic view of demand growth expectations necessitate adequate investments in oil and gas, today, tomorrow, and for many decades into the future,” he added.

Published in Dawn, September 25th, 2024