Thousands of new oil wells and hundreds of new oilfields will be needed to meet global demand even if it falls sharply towards the middle of the century, Oslo-based consultancy Rystad Energy said on Friday. Its analysis stands in sharp contrast to the conclusions of the International Energy Agency (IEA), which said last week that investors should not fund new oil, gas and coal projects if the world wants to reach net-zero emissions by mid-century. read more The IEA’s scenario sees oil demand declining to 24 million barrels per day (bpd) by 2050, while Rystad sees oil demand falling to 36 million bpd by the same time. “Given that output from oil wells declines by an average of more than 20% per year, the international oil industry will still need to drill thousands […]