Global oil and gas field decline rates are increasing, IEA says

LONDON (Reuters) -The natural rate of decline in output from the world’s oil and gas fields is speeding up, owing to more reliance on shale and deep offshore resources, the International Energy Agency said on Tuesday. The report from the IEA, which advises industrialised countries, warns that without continued investment in existing fields, the world would lose the equivalent of Brazil and Norway’s combined oil production each year with implications for markets and energy security, the agency said in a statement. “Only a small portion of upstream oil and gas investment is used to meet increases in demand while nearly 90% of upstream investment annually is dedicated to offsetting losses of supply at existing fields,” IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol said in the statement.Read More