The world is moving to a catastrophic energy crisis, which could nullify the global economic recovery. In fact, most of the major oil fields the world passed their peak production, Fatih Birol, the leading economist in the field of energy warns.

High oil prices caused by the rapid increase in demand and the stagnation or even decline in supply, could impede economic recovery, the doctor Fatih Birol said. Fatih Birol is the chief economist of the International Energy Agency (IEA) in Paris, tasked to evaluate future energy supply of countries of Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

In an interview with the British Independent Dr. Birol said, that the public and many governments seem to forget that the oil on which the modern civilization depends, goes much faster than before. He predicts the global production of oil is likely to reaches its peak after some 10 years. This is ten years earlier than the majority of countries forcast.

According to Dr. Birol, the market power of the few oil-producing countries, having significant oil reserves - mostly in the Middle East - will grow rapidly after 2010 when the first symptoms of the oil crisis will emerge.

IEA estimate, the decline in oil production at oil fields currently reaches 6.7 per cent per year, compared with a 3.7 per cent decline for 2007.