Petrol prices could hit 180p a litre for Brits as the world faces global oil shortage
The lack of oil could push up the price of a barrel to $150 by 2040
THE world is facing a global oil shortage, which could push up the price of a barrel to $150 by 2040, it was warned last night.
Such a surge would batter Brits at the pumps, pushing up the cost of unleaded and diesel to 180p a litre.
The warning came from the INTERNATIONAL ENERGY AGENCY (IEA) in its latest annual report.
It said low prices, particularly in the last year had led to less investment from oil firms, which could turn a current glut into a shortage within years.
Between 2000 and 2014, oil companies approved an average of $15billion (£12billion) of new projects a year.
But last year that figure fell to just $6.5billion (£5.2billion), a level not seen since the 1950s.
Tim Gould, one of the IEA report’s authors said: “As things stand, two years of low approvals is manageable but what we warn about is if investment stays low in 2017.
“An unprecedented effort would be required to make up lost ground.
“We’re talking now about a gap towards the end of the decade and in the 2020s.
“Without a pickup in investment, or a slowdown in demand, the stage may be being set for the next boom and bust cycle for oil.”
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The IEA forecasts demand will hit 103.5 million barrels per day by 2040 - up from a rate of 92.5 million a day last year.
India will be the leading source of demand growth and China will overtake the United States to become the biggest oil-consuming country.
The highest ever oil price was $147 a barrel in 2008, which led an a petrol price of 119.7p per litre (ppl) in July that year - and diesel costing 133.25ppl.
Last month, the average price of unleaded was 115.1ppl, with diesel at 116.9ppl.
The AA and FAIRFUELUK say if oil hit $150 now fuel could cost as much as 180p a litre.
A spokesman for the AA said: “The combination of huge oil price and weak pound would be an absolute killer of family budgets.
“I think it would lead to another financial crisis.”
FairFuelUK said the price of fuel would be higher than the last time oil nearly hit $150 a barrel because “all the refining, shipping and distribution costs have increased”.
The highest-ever average price of petrol was 142.48p in April 2012.