LONDON - New analysis launched yesterday — in the report Oil Market Futures 1 — shows that policies to promote low-carbon mobility would reduce global oil prices and could thereby reduce global spending on oil by $US330billion ($F677b) each year between 2020 and 2030. The uptake of technologies such as hybrid and electric vehicles would help keep oil prices significantly lower — by 15 per cent in 2020 and 29 per cent in 2040 — when compared with business as usual. Cheaper oil will free-up billions for oil importing countries, to then be spent in other parts of the economy. These are the findings of ground-breaking analysis from leading economic analysts Cambridge Econometrics and other experts.
The analysis also demonstrated that the age of ultra-cheap oil will be limited. Without the necessary action to address climate change, the oil price could rise as high as $US130 ($F266) per barrel in 2050. But if policies were implemented to drive investment in low-carbon transport technologies, thereby reducing demand for oil, this could be limited to $83 — $87 a barrel in 2050.
Source: The Fiji Times