The International Energy Agency has released the summary of their world energy report due next week. In it, the agency forecasts oil prices rising over $100 a barrel in the not too distant future and remaining there through 2015, with prices hitting $200 per barrel by 2030. The report also reinforces the leaked news of steeper than expected decline rates in global oil production due to depletion of oil fields.

Oil prices will rebound to more than $100 a barrel as soon as the world economy recovers, and will exceed $200 by 2030, the International Energy Agency will say in its flagship report to be published next week.

“While market imbalances could temporarily cause prices to fall back, it is becoming increasingly apparent that the era of cheap oil is over,” the report states …

“Current global trends in energy supply and consumption are patently unsustainable,” the report states.

Output from the world’s oil fields is declining at a natural rate of 9 per cent, the IEA found, following the most comprehensive review of its kind. This decline rate is curtailed to 6.7 per cent when current investments to boost production are made. However, even with such investments, the decline rate worsens significantly to 8.6 per cent by 2030.

The declining rates are steeper than the industry had previously assumed. They are also slightly steeper than an earlier draft of the report because the IEA has expanded the study to 800 oil fields, adding 250 smaller fields.