SPENCER, Dale and Fattouh Bassam

The prospect that global oil demand will gradually slow and eventually peak has created a cottage industry of executives and commentators trying to predict the point at which demand will peak. This focus seems misplaced.  The date at which oil demand will stop growing is highly uncertain and small changes in assumptions can lead to vastly different estimates.  More importantly, there is little reason to believe that once it does peak, that oil demand will fall sharply.  The world is likely to demand large quantities of oil for many decades to come. Rather, the significance of peak oil is that it signals a shift in paradigm – from an age of (perceived) scarcity to an age of abundance – and with it is likely to herald a shift to a more competitive market environment.  This change in paradigm is also likely to pose material challenges for oil producing economies as they try both to ensure that their oil is produced and consumed, and at the same time diversify their economies fit for a world in which they can no longer rely on oil revenues to provide their main source of revenue for the indefinite future.

https://www.oxfordenergy.org/publications/peak-oil-demand-long-run-oil-prices/