London, Nov 14 (EFE) .- The United States will establish itself as the world's leading producer of oil and gas in the two decades until 2040, even in a context of low prices, predicted today the International Energy Agency (IEA).

The IEA presents in London its annual report "Forecasts for the world energy 2017", in which it also predicts that the global demand for energy will expand in the period by 30%, a rate lower than hitherto but equivalent to adding "another India and another China" to the current demand.

On the United States, the IEA foresees that the country, which is already a net exporter of gas, will become a net exporter of oil "by the end of the next decade".

This is due, the agency explains, to the "outstanding" "US ability to produce new energy resources, such as oil and gas from shale, with cost efficiency.

The agency estimates that the increase in US production of shale oil by 8 million barrels (mdb) between 2010 and 2025 would be "the longest period of sustained growth in the oil production of a single country in the history of oil markets. "

" In the mid-2020s, the United States became the world's largest exporter of liquefied natural gas and, a few years later, an exporter net oil, "the IEA says in its report.

Regarding the increase in global energy demand, the agency explains that the reasons for the increase will be the expansion of the global economy at a rate of 3.4% per year, the population increase from 7,400 to 9,000 million people by 2040 and the urbanization process, which brings to the world "a city of size of Shanghai (China) every four months. "

The biggest contribution to the increase in global energy demand in the next two decades will come from India, whose needs energetics grow by 11%, up to 30% of the total, explains the organization.

The AIE also predicts a significant breakthrough in the coming years of renewable energy sources and an increase in the use of electricity compared to oil or gasoline.