McKinsey Sees Fossil Fuels Dominating for DecadesBy Tsvetana Paraskova - Oct 21, 2025, 3:30 PM CDT
- McKinsey’s Global Energy Perspective 2025 projects that oil, gas, and coal will still account for 41–55% of global energy use in 2050.
- McKinsey says energy affordability and security now outweigh climate goals in shaping policy and investment.
- McKinsey and Aramco’s Amin Nasser warn that underinvestment in oil and gas exploration risks a future supply crunch.
Fossil fuels aren’t going anywhere. Oil, natural gas, and coal are set to represent about half of global energy consumption in 2050 and beyond, according to the tenth annual McKinsey report, which showed the biggest shift in the consultancy’s thinking on energy systems in a decade.
McKinsey’s Global Energy Perspective 2025 offers “a chance to reflect on the lessons learned over the past decade and to look ahead to the next one,” the consultancy said.
The reflection revealed that of the three energy system priorities – affordability, reliability, and sustainability – the lack of affordability, as well as bankability, is holding back the widespread adoption of new low-carbon technologies.
“First, cost competitiveness and an economically pragmatic energy transition remain paramount,” McKinsey noted in this year’s report.
“Second, there is no silver bullet for decarbonization. Countries and regions will follow distinct trajectories based on local economic conditions, resource endowment, and the realities facing particular industries,” McKinsey said.
McKinsey Sees Fossil Fuels Dominating for Decades | OilPrice.com
The premise for rapidly expanding new technologies in solar and wind were that the costs were coming down rapidly and would overtake fossil fuels. |
