Fossil fuel spending to fall for first time since pandemic

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investment in fossil fuels will decrease this year for the first time since the Covid pandemic, according to the International Energy Agency, led by a shrinkage in the oil sector, where the sharp decline in prices force companies to reassess their plans.

In its annual report on money flowing to the energy sector, the International Energy Agency predicted a 6 percent decrease in spending on oil production this year. With the exception of PandeMic Covid-19 years, it will represent the largest decline since 2016, when oil prices fell to less than $ 30 a barrel.

“This is the first time that we have seen such a decrease, with the exception of Covid, due to the low prices and the low demand for oil,” said Fatih Birol, head of the Paris International State Energy Consultant.

Since it reached $ 82 a barrel in mid -January, oil prices fell to about $ 65 a barrel after OPEC, the oil cartel began to increase its production significantly. The United States Producers Authority in the United States said that oil producers in the United States, who represent 15 percent of global spending on oil production, were the most sensitive to prices and reduce their investments by 10 percent this year.

It is also expected to slightly reduce international oil specialties in spending it, as it gives priority the returns of shareholders. Withdrawal means that giant oil companies in the Middle East and Asia will make up 40 percent of all oil and gas spending this year, compared to fourteen years.

International oil companies also continue to reduce their spending on clean energy, as the International Intelligence Agency indicated that they have invested $ 22 billion in low emissions technology in 2024, 25 percent less than the previous year.

In general, IEA said that the world will spend 1.1 trillion on fossil fuel in 2025, compared to more than 2.2 trillion on renewable energy, batteries, batteries, power networks, low emissions and energy efficiency.

While the overall spending on fossil fuels will shrink by 2 percent this year, China and India have committed to building large fleets of coal power stations to meet the growth of rapid demand in electricity. In contrast, for the first time ever, the world’s advanced economies have not submitted any new requests for coal -operating turbines.

“Add coal is mainly driven by the causes of energy security,” said Perol. “China had some bitter experiences when there was very hot weather and the electrical energy was very weak.”

In the United States, where the Trump administration was clear about contempt for renewable energy, Birol said the jump in the demand for electricity from artificial intelligence and data centers means that there will be an additional need for power, gas and nuclear.

In a separate report, Enverus, a research company, said that although there are 517 Gigawatts of renewable energy projects in the United States that need federal tax credits to be viable, there are 284 Gigawats that do not require such financing.

“If these projects are built at the same pace last year, this is sufficient to maintain the pace of construction today for more than six years,” said Koriana Mah, an analyst at Infiros.