The International Energy Agency said that the world must invest USD 38 trillion in oil, gas and electricity infrastructures over the next 25 years to stop prices from soaring.

Referring to data from the IEA's upcoming World Energy Outlook 2011 to be published in November, the agency said that USD 16.9 trillion are needed for electricity generation, USD 10 trillion in oil, USD 9.5 trillion in natural gas, USD 1.1 trillion in coal and USD 300 billion on biofuels.

Mr Fatih Birol chief economist said that "This means more or less that USD 1.5 trillion are needed every year.”

He highlighted that oil investment was vital in Middle East and North African countries because 90% of the required growth in crude production over the next few years would come from that region.

Mr Birol said that "If the investment doesn't come through in those countries, it will have huge implications for international oil markets and prices. We will see a lot of oil coming from Brazil and other regions but in many producing countries output is declining. We must compensate for declines to meet growth."

(Sourced from Iran Daily)