--- title: "Oil Companies in Trouble as Renewables Suddenly Mean They’re Producing Way Too Much Oil" description: "A new report from the International Energy Agency is bullish about the impact of renewables, which it says will help drop demand in oil." date: "2024-06-15" modified: "2024-06-15" authors: - name: "Frank Landymore" job_title: "Contributing Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/flandymore" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/oil-companies-producing-way-too-much" categories: - "Science & Energy" tags: - "oil" - "renewables" - "the digest" --- # Oil Companies in Trouble as Renewables Suddenly Mean They’re Producing Way Too Much Oil ![A new report from the International Energy Agency is bullish about the impact of renewables, which will contribute to a drop in oil demand.]() *\Image: Getty / Futurism\* ## Barrel of Laughs The oil industry may have a reckoning on the horizon. According to a [new report]() from the International Energy Agency, the world is headed towards a ludicrous surplus in oil supply that could see prices tumble and the industry's position falter — a forecast in no small part attributed to the growth in renewables, [especially solar](). This impending oil "glut," as the energy watchdog predicts, will come after a peak in global oil demand in 2029, plateauing at 105.6 million barrels per day. With a continued drop in demand in the following year, the supply will overshoot that figure by about 8 million barrels per day — a disparity that hasn't been seen since the lockdowns at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. "Such a massive oil production buffer could usher in a lower oil price environment, posing tough challenges for producers in the U.S. shale patch and the OPEC+ bloc," the IEA said in its annual report, referring to the coalition of the world's leading oil producers that includes Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. ## Striking it Poor In advanced economies, where oil demand has already been declining for decades, the IEA estimates that it's set to further fall from 45.7 million barrels per day in 2023 to 42.7 million by 2030. On the opposite side of that equation, producers such as the US and OPEC+ members have only ramped up investments in oil, and their contributions are expected to drive production upwards with China and India, both hugely expanding economies with massive populations and a growing number of drivers, as the biggest customers. But China's economic growth, which has accounted for around 60 percent of the uptick in global oil demand for the past decade, the IEA said, is expected to slow in the coming years, and with it its appetite for oil. Furthermore, the IEA sounds very optimistic about the impact renewables will have. A greater adoption of electric vehicles — of which China is the [world's leading manufacturer]() — plus a bump in solar energy will be the biggest difference makers, more so than other forms of clean energy technology. And we may already be seeing signs of that right now, with solar proving so efficient at times that prices [are dipping into the negative in certain markets](). On the other hand, EV adoption seems [less like a sure thing]() right now than it did a few years ago [as sales falter](). And so the future remains a slick thing to grasp — though hopefully not oil slick. **More on energy:** *[New Concrete That Stores Electricity Could Turn Whole Homes Into Batteries]()* ## Author At Futurism, my work has often centered on bringing a sense of clarity and insight to complex topics ranging from the regulation of emerging technologies to the esoteric ideologies of Silicon Valley executives, while striving not to lose the poetic sense of awe inspired by often-obscure fields like astrophysics and quantum computing. I broke the story of CNET using AI to produce articles that turned out to be riddled with factual errors and plagiarism — a dam-breaking inflection point, as I've reported, that's inspired copycats and endless discourse while beguiling stakeholders ranging from tech giants to purveyors of spam around the web. My work at Futurism has been cited by publications including CBS News, the Los Angeles Times, Vice, Gizmodo, Engadget, the Verge, and Vanity Fair. I grew up in locales ranging from India to China, and now live in the exotic suburbs of Virginia. In my free time, I'm an avid reader of weird sci-fi literature, an aficionado of East Asian cinema, and, regrettably, a relapsed gamer. Allegedly, I’m working on a debut novel, currently untitled. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()