World Energy Outlook 2009

On December 2, the CSIS Energy and National Security Program hosted the International Energy Agency to present its World Energy Outlook 2009.  Drawing on the results of the new edition of the WEO, IEA Executive Director Nobuo Tanaka, Deputy Executive Director Richard H. Jones, and Chief Economist Fatih Birol  provided an  update of energy demand and supply projections and their implications for energy security and the environment. Their latest analysis takes into account the economic downturn as well as revised expectations about energy prices.  The IEA outlined the results of an in-depth assessment of the prospects for global gas markets, including the emergence of shale gas as an abundant and potentially low-cost source of supply in North America. They also presented a post-2012 scenario, prepared as input to the UNFCCC climate negotiations, detailing a pathway for the energy sector to achieve a transition to a low-carbon world.