Global energy consumption will grow by a quarter in the next 25 years, and the key driver of demand growth will be developing countries, said Igor Sechin, Chief Executive Officer of Rosneft, at the Energy Panel at the XXVIII St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.

“By 2050, with energy consumption in Africa, India, and Southeast Asia at the level of China's population today, the combined additional consumption will amount to about 50 million barrels of oil equivalent per day. This represents a quarter of the current global energy demand,” the CEO said during his keynote address.

He noted that developing countries are becoming one of the key drivers of energy consumption growth. One of the main reasons for this is demography. In the next 25 years, the population of African and Asia-Pacific countries will grow by a total of 1.4 billion people, which will provide almost the entire world population growth.

In addition to positive demographic dynamics, the CEO of Rosneft named urbanization in Asia and Africa as one of the reasons for the growth in energy demand. According to the IEA's estimate, which was cited by Rosneft's CEO, in the next 25 years the number of city dwellers in these countries will increase by more than 1.6 billion people.

Igor Sechin called the growth of electricity consumption a key challenge. Thus, in his opinion, already in 2025, investments in this sector will exceed investments in fossil fuels by 50%. “Indeed, over the past 15 years, electricity consumption has grown at a faster pace, and according to IEA projections, electricity generation is set to nearly double over the next 25 years,” he added.

Asia-Pacific countries will also make the largest contribution to this growth, accounting for 60% of the increase in consumption.

“This trend is particularly evident in India, where peak demand on the power system has risen by nearly 70% over the past decade,” Sechin concluded.

Department of Information and Advertising
Rosneft Oil Company
June 21, 2025