The IEA has faced criticism from President Donald Trump's administration for its recent pivot towards clean energy policies. A senior Republican and other oil industry figures were present at a Washington event to discuss the report's findings.
For over fifty years, the Paris-based IEA has been providing research and data to help industrialized nations shape their energy security, supply, and investment strategies. As member countries ramp up their renewable energy efforts and look for guidance on transitioning to a low-carbon economy, the IEA has adapted its focus accordingly.
This shift has not sat well with the oil industry, Republicans, and Trump’s team, who are now pushing for increased oil and gas production, arguing that the previous administration's renewable energy focus has led to higher energy costs.
During his campaign last year, Trump highlighted the IEA's climate focus as a point he could tackle as president. The U.S. has significant influence over the IEA since it contributes a quarter of its funding. This shift has also upset other major oil-producing nations, including Saudi Arabia.
The report released on Wednesday, titled Energy Delusions, was authored by Neil Atkinson, the IEA's former oil industry and markets chief, and Mark Mills, director of the National Center for Energy Analytics.
The report was unveiled on Capitol Hill alongside Wyoming Republican Senator John Barrasso and Alan Armstrong, CEO of the pipeline company Williams and current president of the National Petroleum Council. The authors indicated that the report aims to sway the new administration.
The report points out 23 assumptions made by the agency that resulted in what it describes as a misguided conclusion that global oil production would hit its peak by 2030, suggesting that no further investments in oil and gas are necessary.
It argues that the IEA is downplaying growth in emerging markets and the demand for plastics and petrochemicals, while also overestimating how quickly electric vehicles will be adopted.
"The promotional aspirations and flawed assumptions underlying IEA's peak-demand scenarios have serious implications, given the obvious global economic and security considerations in planning for and delivering reliable, affordable energy supplies," the report said.
The IEA called the report "packed with basic mistakes" and "serious misinterpretations regarding energy systems overall and IEA modeling specifically" in a statement released on Wednesday. They mentioned that they are open to suggestions for enhancing their analysis.
"The report also incorrectly suggests the IEA's oil demand projections are an outlier, in reality, the projections are well aligned with comparable scenarios of other organisations, including major oil companies," the agency said in a statement.
Barrasso, who headed a Congressional report that criticized the IEA for its emphasis on green initiatives, refrained from commenting on whether he believes IEA chief Fatih Birol should be replaced. However, he expressed concern that the agency may jeopardize its relevance.
"They are going to get ignored because they are basing their proposals on aspirations that are never going to happen and the world is seeing that and elections are rejecting what they want," he stated during the event.