Always mandatory reading, BP just released its Energy Outlook 2019 . It has caused quite a stir again this year. But, this time the commotion that I see surrounds BP’s forecast that the global war on plastics will be the main factor in cutting global oil demand faster than previously expected. As such, for the first time BP’s outlook predicted a “peak” in oil use. At 13 million b/d, global petrochemical feedstock is 13% of total oil demand. This is part of a growing trend in recent years where BP continues to see “much slower” growth in new oil demand going forward (see Figure). BP and the oil and gas industry itself, along with major forecasting bodies like the Paris-based International Energy Agency (IEA) and U.S. Department of Energy’s EIA, has continued to come under fire for downplaying the impact that electric vehicles and renewables like wind and solar […]