August 16, 2002—Lord Browne, CEO of BP — a leading global energy supplier — has said that despite the disruptions of last year, including a serious economic downturn, continuing Middle East tensions, and the tragedy of September 11, the energy markets continued to operate and supplies of oil and gas are healthy.
Launching the 51st edition of “The BP Statistical Review of World Energy 2002” in London, Browne said: “If you analyze the data, you will see that the market sustained a secure flow of energy because there are diverse sources of supply. The US, for instance, imported 55 percent of its oil needs last year, but it did so from sixty different countries, no one of which accounted for more than 16 per cent of the total. And that diversity can be sustained because there are now a number of major sources of supply coming on stream.
Overall, the world’s demand for energy grew by only 0.3 per cent in 2001. Demand was particularly low in most of Asia and the Americas. North American energy consumption fell by 2.4 per cent, the first drop in a decade.
Data from the “The BP Statistical Review of World Energy 2002” can be read in several formats online at BP’s Web site.
