More than a year after oil prices hit rock-bottom amidst a global supply glut, the cost of a barrel of crude is still stuck in the range of $50. The U.S. Energy Information Administration now estimates that prices will remain near current levels through at least the next year, with serious implications for the offshore industry. Adding to these persistent concerns, the biggest organizations in oil, energy and auto manufacturing are all upping their estimates of the future market share of electric cars, according to a new report from Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEW).
BNEW predicts that plug-in vehicles will make up a third of the world’s fleet by 2040, or about 530 million cars. If this development proves true, it would cut oil demand by as much as eight million barrels a day – about eight percent of the expected global total, and more than the entire export volume of Saudi Arabia.
