Kuwait Bets on Oil Demand Despite IEA's 'Peak' Projection

Originally created in 1974 in the wake of the first Arab Oil Embargo, IEA’s original mission was to provide its 17 initial funding nations with reliable, accurate information about global oil supplies and demand in order to help them raise their levels of energy security. Of note is the fact that none of the members of OPEC were supporters of the IEA, a situation that remains the case today. Instead, the signatories included an array of European countries in addition to Canada and the United States.

Today, half a century later, the IEA’s subscribing countries have expanded to more than 30, including several from Central and South America, along with Australia and New Zealand. But still noticeably absent are any OPEC nations.

As IEA’s membership has expanded, it has experienced a corresponding progression of what we in the US like to refer to as “mission creep,” an unfortunate circumstance in which the assignment of a given project or organization tends to expand wildly outside its initial area of focus and/or expertise as time goes on.