Cutting Oil Demand Would Hurt Russia and Ease a Supply Crisis
Getting people to use less fuel will make it easier to both impose tough sanctions on Russia and withstand a supply disruption.
Drive slower, fly less, save fuel.
Photographer: Brent Lewin/BloombergResponding to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the International Energy Agency unveiled a 10-point plan this week to slash oil demand in developed economies by about 2.7 million barrels a day within four months. Reducing demand will make it a lot easier to impose tough sanctions on Russian exports, but the proposals also serve the longer-term goal of putting energy use on a more sustainable path.
If achieved, the reduction would represent about 5.5% of the agency’s forecast for oil demand in the countries of the OECD this year. Even more could be cut if measures were adopted by less-developed countries as well. Many of the 10 points are things that have been done before, either during the oil-price crises of the 1970s or more recently during the Covid-19 pandemic. There’s good evidence that they work.