Oil demand growth to continue, no peak in sight, Opec Secretary General says
[CALGARY] Oil demand growth will remain robust over the next two and a half decades as the world population grows, Opec Secretary General Haitham Al Ghais said on Tuesday.
The organization expects a 24 per cent increase in the world's energy needs between now and 2050, with oil demand surpassing 120 million barrels per day over that time period.
That estimate is in line with the group's 2024 World Oil Outlook.
'There is no peak in oil demand on the horizon,' Al Ghais said, speaking at the Global Energy Show in Calgary, Alberta.
He said Opec admired what Canada's oil industry has done to increase its oil output in recent years.
Canada achieved record oil production in 2024, as the completion of the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion boosted the ability of oil companies to get their product to market.
BT in your inbox
Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox.
Sign Up
Sign Up
Danielle Smith, premier of Canada's main oil-producing province of Alberta, has spoken of her desire to double the province's oil and gas output by 2050.
Al Ghais said Opec has been consistent in warning of the dangers of inadequate global investment in oil and gas, given its forecast for demand growth.
He said failing to invest enough capital to meet projected demand growth risks undermining energy security and causing volatility for both producers and consumers, and added Opec believes there is a need for US$17.4 trillion in capital investment in the global energy sector over the next 25 years.
Opec+ is unwinding its output cuts at a faster pace than originally anticipated, lifting production by 411,000 barrels per day for May, June and July. The increases, along with concerns that US President Donald Trump's trade war will weaken the global economy, have pressured oil prices in recent months.
Global Brent futures settled at US$66.87 a barrel on Tuesday.
The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) on Tuesday said it expected Brent oil prices to fall near US$60 a barrel by the end of the year and average US$59 a barrel next year, hitting US oil production.
Al Ghais on Tuesday also said Opec welcomed recent pushback against what he referred to as unrealistic climate goals that are overly focused on meeting specific deadlines. He said there is a need for countries to reduce emissions but stressed that should not mean picking and choosing between energy sources.
He said instead governments and companies should be looking for ways to reduce emissions from oil and gas through technologies such as carbon capture and storage. REUTERS
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Business Times
an hour ago
- Business Times
Singapore needs to embrace Bitcoin to maintain status as financial hub: Jeremy Tan
[SINGAPORE] Singapore needs to welcome Bitcoin-related businesses to maintain its status as a global financial hub, said retired businessman Jeremy Tan at an event on Wednesday (Jun 11). The 34-year-old rose to prominence last month during the general election as one of just two independent candidates, pulling in 36.16 per cent of the votes in Mountbatten SMC. He lost to the People's Action Party's Gho Sze Kee. During the nine-day campaign and on his election website, Tan promoted Bitcoin as an inflation-proof asset that Singaporeans should have. He also proposed several policies, including the creation of a Singapore dollar-denominated Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF). At a fireside chat hosted by cryptocurrency exchange Gemini, Tan said that he believes Singapore will have an advantage in the global economy if the government creates Bitcoin-related laws. 'We need to recognise Bitcoin as a separate entity from other forms of cryptocurrencies,' he told an audience of some 200 people, mostly males in their late teens and early 20s. 'The difference between the previous Bitcoin cycle and the current Bitcoin cycle is that the bad actors are no longer in the market.' BT in your inbox Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox. Sign Up Sign Up He referred to former crypto billionaire Sam Bankman-Fried as one of the se 'bad actors'. The American's crypto exchange, FTX, collapsed in 2022, and he is now serving a 25-year sentence for committing fraud; he stole US$8 billion from customers. Saad Ahmed, Asia-Pacific head at Gemini and the host of the fireside chat, pointed out the increasing institutionalisation of cryptocurrency. He said one of the key catalysts of this is the approval of Bitcoin ETFs. As at Thursday, the largest such ETF by market cap, iShares Bitcoin Trust, had a 16.57 per cent year-to-date return. Its market cap stands at US$72.6 billion. Tan said that companies trading Bitcoin earn from the cryptocurrency's volatility, adding that that small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) should consider investing their reserves in Bitcoin. 'If we can change the way SMEs think about Bitcoin as a treasury, then we can change the way SMEs become more productive going forward.' He also said that there is a growing market for advisory services for SMEs which wish to invest in the cryptocurrency. 'There are many companies here that want to store (their treasury) in Bitcoin, but they do not know how to structure their business to do so,' he said. He added that unless the Singapore government starts to reform its Bitcoin laws, the advisory services industry will not be able to grow.
Business Times
2 hours ago
- Business Times
Tencent said to study deal for US$15 billion game developer Nexon
[BEIJING] Tencent Holdings is studying a potential deal for Nexon, as the Chinese Internet giant looks for ways to bolster its lucrative gaming operations, people with knowledge of the matter said. Shenzhen-based Tencent has reached out to the family of Nexon's late founder Kim Jung-ju to discuss the possibility of an acquisition, the people said, asking not to be identified because the information is private. Kim's family has been speaking to advisers and evaluating options, according to the people. Kim's relatives hold their stake through family investment firm NXC Corp, which – together with affiliated unit NXMH BV – owned 44.4 per cent of Nexon as of June 30, according to Nexon's interim report. Kim's wife and daughters own about 67.6 per cent of NXC. It's unclear how receptive NXC is to a sale of the Nexon holding, and there's no certainty Tencent's deliberations will lead to a transaction, the people said. The structure of any deal hasn't been finalised, they added. A representative for Tencent didn't respond to a request seeking comment, while Nexon and NXC declined to comment. The move comes as Tencent, which already pursued an acquisition of Nexon in 2019, makes fresh forays into other South Korean assets. A subsidiary agreed to buy a nearly 10 per cent stake in Seoul-based music producer SM Entertainment in late May, just as an unofficial ban on K-pop in mainland China wanes. BT in your inbox Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox. Sign Up Sign Up Known for role-playing games like MapleStory, Nexon was founded in South Korea in 1994 and listed in Japan in 2011, in one of the biggest tech-related initial public offerings at the time. Nexon shares have climbed more than 10 per cent in Tokyo trading this year, giving the company a market value of about $15 billion. Changes in the shareholding structure after Kim's death in 2022 could complicate any deal. Family members handed the Korean government a stake in the NXC holding company in 2023 to settle an inheritance tax bill. Kim's wife and two daughters inherited his stake in NXC after he died in Hawaii. The family also sold treasury shares in NXC back to the holding company for US$478 million in August. The Korean government has sought to sell its holding but failed to find a suitor, local media reported. Shares of rival game developers like Ubisoft Entertainment, GungHo Online Entertainment and Sega Sammy Holdings have declined this year. While Nexon shares are up in 2025, they're nearly 30 per cent off a peak in 2021. NXC explored a sale of its Nexon stake six years ago, attracting interest from Tencent as well as buyout firms such as KKR & Co. and Hillhouse. The sale process was eventually shelved because of a failure to agree on price, Bloomberg News reported at the time. Nexon and Tencent have already worked together, developing Dungeon & Fighter, a key revenue generator. In March, Tencent agreed to invest US$1.3 billion for a 25 per cent stake in a new Ubisoft unit that holds the rights to intellectual properties including Assassin's Creed. Nexon's first-quarter net sales totalled about 114 billion yen (S$1.01 billion), while net income was 26 billion yen. BLOOMBERG
Business Times
2 hours ago
- Business Times
Ant unit to seek stablecoin permits in Hong Kong, Singapore: sources
[HONG KONG] Jack Ma-backed Ant Group's international unit is planning to apply for stablecoin licences in Singapore and Hong Kong, according to people familiar with the matter. Singapore-based Ant International will apply for the stablecoin issuer's licence in Hong Kong as soon as the city's Stablecoins Ordinance goes into effect in August, the people said, asking not to be identified because the matter is private. As well as Singapore, the company is also planning to seek a permit in Luxembourg, they added. The move is designed to bolster the fintech firm's blockchain operation underpinning its cross-border payment and treasury management services, the people said. Ant processed more than US$1 trillion of global transactions last year, a third of which were handled by its blockchain-based Whale platform, they said. Ant representatives did not respond to an emailed request for comment. A spokesperson for the Hong Kong Monetary Authority declined to comment. Regulators in Singapore and Luxembourg were not immediately able to comment. Since its record initial public offering was halted in 2020, Ant has been developing new initiatives to drive growth as its lucrative online lending business got handicapped by regulators in China. Overseas, the Ant International arm established an independent board, setting the stage for a spinoff and potential IPO. The unit generated nearly US$3 billion in revenue for 2024 and has produced two consecutive years of adjusted profit, Bloomberg reported in May. BT in your inbox Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox. Sign Up Sign Up Ant International could fetch an IPO valuation ranging from US$8 billion to US$24 billion if it were to list in Hong Kong, according to Bloomberg Intelligence. Increasingly, the unit's treasury business has shown growth potential due to the sheer amount of transactions it handles for the e-commerce platforms of its affiliate Alibaba Group Holding, as well as external clients. The treasury business, which is underpinned by the Whale platform, uses blockchain technology, including encryption and artificial intelligence, to improve the efficiency and transparency of fund transfers. The Whale platform currently supports multiple tokenized assets from banks and institutions around the world. It uses privacy computing technologies such as homomorphic encryption and enables multiparty verification. The company has signed collaboration agreements with more than 10 banks globally including HSBC Holdings, BNP Paribas, JPMorgan Chase and Standard Chartered. This week, it also formed a strategic partnership with Deutsche Bank to work on payment solutions and treasury management. Stablecoins are digital assets designed to hold a steady value, usually pegged to another currency. They are crucial to the functioning of crypto markets, with about US$243 billion of them in circulation in May. Regulators around the world are trying to put rules around the sector, fearing the risk of stablecoin crashes and the potential for massive money laundering. US lawmakers are working on legislation to regulate stablecoin companies. As crypto adoption has grown, many companies have slowly made their way into the space, including financial and technology heavyweights. A high-profile attempt by Facebook and Instagram owner Meta Platforms to launch a stablecoin in 2019 later unravelled after a backlash. The rollout in 2023 of a stablecoin from PayPal Holdings marked the first effort from a big financial company. There are also tokens that can act like stablecoins for use as collateral during trading, like tokenized money market funds. Asset managers including BlackRock and Franklin Templeton have created these kinds of products in recent years. BLOOMBERG
