10th Jun 2015 15:37
London (Alliance News) - Energy giant BP on Wednesday said it saw "tectonic" shifts in global markets last year with slowing growth in consumption, plunging prices and a greater focus on renewable energy sources.
"The eerie calm that had characterised energy markets in the few years prior to 2014 came to an abrupt end last year," BP Group Chief Executive Bob Dudley said at the launch of the company's global energy review.
"However, we should not be surprised or alarmed," Dudley said.
"These events may well come to be viewed as symptomatic of a broader shifting of the tectonic plates that make up the energy landscape, with significant developments in both the supply of energy and its demand."
BP said the shift was likely to have "profound implications" for prices, the global energy mix and carbon dioxide emissions.
The review highlighted the importance of the US shale-oil "revolution" which helped the US to overtake Saudi Arabia as the world's biggest oil producer and Russia as the world's biggest producer of oil and gas.
Growth of global primary energy consumption slowed to 0.9%, down from 2.0% in 2013, although global economic growth remained stable.
Production increased for all fuels except coal, as oil lost market share but remained the leading fuel with 33% of global energy consumption, BP said.
Growth in consumption was again dominated by emerging markets, which saw a slowdown to 2.4% from an average of 4.2% over the past decade.
China's consumption growth fell to 2.6%, the slowest since 1998, while consumption by Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) nations decreased by 0.9%.
EU energy consumption slumped to the lowest level since 1985, the report said.
Despite the recent volatility and plunging oil prices, strong demand from Asia will spur steady growth of energy demand averaging 1.4% annually over the next two decades, BP forecast earlier this year.
Copyright dpa
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