The energy of artificial intelligence: how are chatbots and oil prices related?

Alexey Belogoryev, Research and Development Director of the Institute for Energy and Finance, commented to TASS on the impact of the artificial intelligence development as an energy consumer on the prospective global demand for hydrocarbons.

Alexey Belogoryev is sure that the times when oil played an important role in the balance of electricity production ended in the 1970s and 1980s. In 2023, according to his data, petroleum fuel accounted for only 2.3% of the world's electricity generation. In the EU, it accounted for only 1.7%, in Russia — 0.6%, in the USA — 0.4%, in China and India — just over 0.1%.

"Oil is mainly in demand for electricity generation in the old-fashioned way in the Persian Gulf countries, Africa, Mexico, and in a significant amount still in Japan (3.3% of the generation structure). In all other cases, it is either a rarely used backup fuel, or a small generation in a remote area like our Far North. Therefore, I do not see how an increase in the AI energy consumption could contribute to maintaining global oil demand. It is unlikely that cars with internal combustion engines will be equipped with energy—intensive AI," the expert says.