Have low oil prices reversed the decline in energy demand? : a case study for the UK

Working paper

Total energy demand and the product composition of energy consumption have changed considerably following the two oil crises of the 1970s. Although total primary energy consumption in the OECD was higher in 1987 than it had been at any time previously, its rate of growth had fallen considerably. The average rate of growth of 5 per cent per annum during the 1960s was reduced to 1.9 per cent in the 1970s and further to only 0.5 per cent over the period 1980-7. For oil, the development was somewhat different. In 1987 total oil consumption was 15 per cent below its peak of 1978, and the growth rate was reduced from nearly 8 per cent per annum in the 1960s to 1.4 per cent during the 1970s and to an average annual decline of 1 per cent during the 1980s.

Authors: Dargay, J

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Reviewed (other)
• Publisher: Oxford Institute for Energy Studies
• Series: OIES paper
• Publication date: 1990-01-01
• Edition: Publisher's version
• Paper number: EE9
• ISBN: 0948061324
• Language: English
• Keywords: long-run demand; dynamic specification; UK; oil price shock; price falls; demand reductions; irreversibility; elasticity; price rises; OIES; energy demand; oil prices