The International Energy Agency’s (IEA) latest Global Energy Review 2025 offers a stark reminder: oil and natural gas remain indispensable to meeting growing global energy demand. The report, capturing energy trends from 2024, shows clearly that the world’s appetite for energy is expanding rapidly – and fossil fuels will be critical to satisfying this demand.
This report comes on the heels of recent comments made by the agency’s Executive Director Fatih Birol earlier this month at CERAWeek. Speaking in Houston, Birol didn’t mince words in asserting that more investment in all kinds of energy, including oil and natural gas, will be needed to fulfill our future energy needs:
“I want to make it clear … there would be a need for investment, especially to address the decline in the existing fields… There is a need for oil and gas upstream investments, full stop.” (emphasis added)
The agency’s stance in unequivocal: robust investment in oil and gas infrastructure is crucial to maintaining energy security worldwide.
Natural Gas Has Dual Role in Powering Economies and Reducing Emissions
The IEA report highlights natural gas specifically as a key energy source, with global consumption hitting an all-time high in 2024, and that it is well-positioned to help meet future energy needs if necessary investments are made.
Demand for natural gas grew by 2.7 percent globally. This increase was driven primarily by emerging economies, but demand rose across all regions – including a notable 1.9 percent increase in the United States alone. As IEA explained:
“Natural gas demand increased particularly strongly in Brazil and Colombia. Both countries were hit by severe droughts, which limited hydropower availability and increased reliance on gas-fired power generation.” (emphasis added)
In addition to providing consumers with much-needed energy supplies, natural gas also continues playing a significant role in emission reductions. The United States saw energy-related CO2 emissions drop by 0.5 percent in 2024, largely due to coal-to-gas switching. In fact, emissions from the United States’ power sector have declined by more than 35 percent since 2005 because of this ongoing transition.
A peer-reviewed study published by the Miami University of Ohio earlier this week underscored the significant role of the U.S. shale revolution in creating a greener economy. Researchers found that natural gas development has led to an average annual reduction of 10.5 percent in CO2 emissions per capita, with overall U.S. greenhouse gas emissions per capita decreasing by 7.5 percent annually.
In emerging economies, natural gas demand increased faster than coal (3.7 percent compared 2 percent), thanks to its clean-burning properties.
Electricity Demand Surges, Driven by Tech Growth
The IEA report further emphasizes that global electricity demand soared by 4.3 percent, nearly double the average annual increase over the past decade. Technology advancements – particularly Artificial Intelligence (AI) – and rapid economic growth are fueling unprecedented electricity consumption.
During CERAWeek earlier this month, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Chairman Mark Christie argued that natural gas would be critical to meeting AI’s exponentially-increasing needs:
“We’re going to build combined-cycle gas to meet this load from data centers. We have to because there’s no other way to serve it.” (emphasis added)
Further, Christie stressed that in order to meet this need, the United States must encourage the development of more natural gas infrastructure:
“We’re going to need pipelines to service the combined-cycle gas, and that is simply what I consider a rendezvous with reality.” (emphasis added)
Bottom line: The IEA’s Global Energy Review 2025 underscores a critical reality – continued and increased investment in American oil and gas infrastructure is needed to meet our energy needs. Failure to invest in the necessary infrastructure domestically could jeopardize efforts to satisfy growing demand and lead to increased reliance on dirtier sources of energy controlled by foreign adversaries.
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