The IEA Oil Market Report (OMR) is one of the world's most authoritative and timely sources of data, forecasts and analysis on the global oil market – including detailed statistics and commentary on oil supply, demand, inventories, prices and refining activity, as well as oil trade for IEA and selected non-IEA countries.

Energy commodities need to be affordable so that households can enjoy a high quality of life and industries can compete in a globalised world. At the same time, energy use is responsible for about three-quarters of global greenhouse gas emissions and pollutes the air in our cities. To balance affordability, environmental concerns, and other policy objectives, governments adopt a range of different regulations and approaches.

This commentary analyses countries’ policy approaches to regulating gasoline prices. It considers specific economic and social contexts and suggests policy measures that can accelerate a clean and just transition.

The Covid-19 pandemic and resulting economic crisis had an impact on almost every aspect of how energy is produced, supplied, and consumed around the world. The pandemic defined energy and emissions trends in 2020 – it drove down fossil fuel consumption for much of the year, whereas renewables and electric vehicles, two of the main building blocks of clean energy transitions, were largely immune.

As primary energy demand dropped nearly 4% in 2020, global energy-related CO2 emissions fell by 5.8% according to the latest statistical data, the largest annual percentage decline since World War II. In absolute terms, the decline in emissions of almost 2 000 million tonnes of CO2 is without precedent in human history – broadly speaking, this is the equivalent of removing all of the European Union’s emissions from the global total. Demand for fossil fuels was hardest hit in 2020 – especially oil, which plunged 8.6%, and coal, which dropped by 4%. Oil’s annual decline was...

Top international energy and climate leaders from more than 40 countries took part in the IEA-COP26 Net Zero Summit today to identify how to work together to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions and meet the goals of the Paris Agreement.

The Net Zero Summit, co-hosted by IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol and COP26 President Alok Sharma, brought together high-level representatives of energy and climate ministries from countries including Australia, Brazil, China, Colombia, the European Union, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, South Africa, the United Kingdom and many others. Participants from a broad cross-section of civil society groups, private companies and government institutions also took part in the discussions.

The Summit is a critical milestone on the road to COP26 in Glasgow in November. It brought together representatives of countries covering more than 80% of global GDP, population and emissions. Key participants included...

The IEA Executive Director, Fatih Birol, and Indonesia’s Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources, Arifin Tasrif, today announced the IEA-Indonesia Energy Transition Alliance, marking a step-change in ambition for Indonesia’s energy transition.

The Alliance enhances collaboration between Indonesia and the IEA on tackling the emerging energy challenges of our time – both within Indonesia and internationally. It acts as a framework to work together to support policy development, accelerate Indonesia’s energy transition, and mobilize high-level political engagement. The Alliance will allow the IEA and Indonesia to build new partnerships and launch new workstreams to support Indonesia’s international energy leadership.

The IEA has been working closely with the government of Indonesia since 2015, and the Agency’s Clean Energy Transitions Programme has strengthened this engagement. With support from this IEA Programme, Indonesia is launching in 2021...

Methane emissions are the second largest cause of global warming. While methane tends to receive less attention than carbon dioxide (CO2), reducing methane emissions will be critical for avoiding the worst effects of climate change. The energy sector – including oil, natural gas, coal and bioenergy – is one of the largest sources of methane emissions, but efforts to reduce them have often been held back by a lack of reliable data. That was why the IEA launched its Methane Tracker in 2019 in an effort to reconcile the various and often conflicting sources of data into a coherent set of estimates. This interactive online tool has quickly become a global reference. It focuses on emissions from oil and gas operations – the area with the greatest and most cost-effective potential for reducing methane emissions.  This 2021 update to the IEA Methane Tracker includes detailed estimates for 2020 that incorporate new data for oil and gas supply as well as the latest evidence...

With just 4% of the world’s water supply but 18% of its population, India counts as one of the world’s most water?stressed countries. And India’s rapid economic ascent in recent years has only increased demand for both energy and water, putting these interconnected resources under increasing pressure and making the nexus between them central to the country’s energy security and transition goals.

Agriculture accounts for 80% of India’s water demand, but water is also critical to its energy sector, particularly for electricity generation. The development of India’s power sector over the next two decades will take place against a backdrop of increasing water stress, climate change and rising water demand from its agricultural, residential and industrial sectors. A continuation of current trends in water usage would put projected demand for water far ahead of the available supply and threaten the country’s energy output.

But India has an opportunity. Based on...

This is a 2nd webinar in the China’s electricity power sector transformation webinar series co-hosted by the IEA, the China Electric Power Planning & Engineering Institute (EPPEI), the Royal Danish Embassy in Beijing and Danish Energy Agency (DEA) with support from China National Energy Administration (NEA), the French Development Agency (AFD) and the European Commission.

The main objective of this webinar to provide targeted audiences with insights into China’s electric power sector transition both in the near future (14th Five-year) and in the medium & long run. The focus of this webinar is on cutting-edge energy technologies and deployment options that have received tremendous interest and debate in the energy sector in China including:

This section assesses how resilient renewable energy development and deployment have been during the pandemic crisis, with analysis based on various indicators from recent monthly and quarterly data (up to end-September 2020). Overall, renewable electricity has shown strong resistance according to data on monthly installations, awarded auctions, financing of new projects and equity performance.

Electricity is an integral part of all modern economies, supporting a range of critical services from healthcare to banking to transportation. Secure supply of electricity is thus of paramount importance. The structural change from an electricity system based on thermal generation powered by fossil fuels towards a system based on variable renewable energy continues apace at various stages across the globe. Digitalisation tools such as smart grids and distributed energy resources, along with the electrification of end uses put electricity increasingly at the forefront of the entire energy system. As a result, governments, industries and other stakeholders will need to improve their frameworks for ensuring electricity security through updated policies, regulations and market designs. This report details the new approaches that will be needed in electricity system planning, resource adequacy mechanisms, incentives for supply- and demand-side flexibility, short-term...

Energy efficiency represents a critical resource to energy systems and the economy, contributing to lower bills, reducing energy waste and increasing competitiveness.

This webinar will focus on the analysis of progress with energy efficiency in Brazil, published in the Atlas of Energy Efficiency 2020 (available in English and Portuguese). The IEA will join Brazil’s Energy Research Centre (EPE) and National Union of the Cement Industry (SNIC) to present key findings and recommendations from the report.

This year’s Atlas of Energy Efficiency focuses on five sectors: buildings, the residential sector, services, industry, and transport. It features two additional chapters, co-authored with the IEA. The first is a deep-dive into energy efficiency and carbon abatement in the cement sector in Brazil and internationally. The second explores the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic on energy demand and efficiency.

The webinar will include simultaneous translation...

The People’s Republic of China (“China”) officially launched its national emissions trading system (ETS) in 2017, and it will come into operation in 2021. Initially covering the power sector, which accounts for over 40% of China’s energy-related CO2 emissions, the ETS is set to subsequently be expanded to other energy-intensive sectors. China’s national ETS could be an important market-based instrument to help the country meet its recently enhanced climate goals to have CO2 emissions peak before 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality before 2060. This report explores how China’s ETS can spur emissions reductions from electricity generation and support power sector transformation. It builds on understanding of power sector development and policy trends and relies on in-depth national and provincial scenario modelling of China’s power system from 2020 to 2035. This study also analyses how the ETS’s output- and rate-based design affects overall power sector emissions,...

Energy and climate leaders from more than 40 countries who took part in the IEA-COP26 Net Zero Summit last week called on countries to work more closely together to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and stave off a potentially catastrophic rise in global temperatures. But they also emphasised that major international efforts to boost clean energy policies and investment can bring more immediate benefits: massive job creation and economic opportunities that can put the world on a sustainable recovery path from the Covid crisis.

“This is the greatest economic opportunity we’ve ever had’’ said John Kerry, the US Presidential Special Envoy for Climate, during the opening session of the Summit. “We are looking at the biggest job market ever known. Every task we have – building out the grid, solar power, wind power, building out hydrogen, batteries, switching to electric vehicles – will all create jobs.”

And it’s not just an exciting prospect for advanced economies. In...

Electricity is becoming increasingly vital for our economy and society. Levels of electricity grid access are increasing worldwide with ever more countries reaching full access, and industry and citizens expect maximum levels or reliability, as even short disruptions can have widespread economic impact. The power system of the future will face three challenges that are particularly relevant: