Set up to monitor oil markets following the 1970s? oil crisis, the IEA now is the emissions watch-dog.
Global energy investment in 2015 amounted to $1.83 trillion, down 8% (in real terms) from 2014, according to a survey published September 14 by the International Energy Agency (IEA). The report said that the drop mainly came from the upstream oil and gas segment.
It also said that “After three years during which the US was the largest destination for investment in energy supply, China retook the top position in 2015, largely owing to the record level of electricity sector investment in China and the decline of US oil and gas investment.?
.jpg "Natural Gas World Magazine")
However, “the rebalancing and slowdown of the Chinese economy, which are curbing the country?s energy needs, are having a major impact on energy investment globally, largely as a result of lower demand growth for oil, gas and coal.”
The top five spenders in 2015 were China with $315bn, USA with $280bn, falling $75bn from 2014, EU with $140bn, Russia with $85bn and India with $65bn.
Welcoming the report, the head of the International Association of Oil and Gas Producers, Gordon Ballard, said: “In the oil and gas sector, huge investment will be necessary in the next decades, to explore and produce the new resources needed to meet the energy demand that a growing world population will likely generate.
Charles Ellinas
You can read the full article in Issue 3 of Natural Gas World Magazine. Out Wednesday September 21. Subscribe today.
You can now also follow Natural Gas World directly on your phone or tablet via Google Newsstand and Flipboard. Click 
or 
Natural Gas World welcomes all viewpoints. Should you wish to provide an alternative perspective on the above article, please contact [email protected] Kindly note that for external submissions we only lightly edit content for grammar and do not edit externally contributed content.