Global demand for crude oil could peak in the next two decades, as renewables like solar power surge faster than expected to meet a greater share of the world’s energy needs, BP BP -0.25% PLC said Tuesday. The world’s appetite for oil and other liquid fuels could continue to grow until around 2035, hitting 110.3 million barrels a day—compared with 95 million barrels a day in 2015—before plateauing and falling off in the run up to 2040, the British oil-and-gas giant said Tuesday in the main future scenario, releasing its annual energy outlook. Peak demand could represent a potential reckoning for energy companies that had grown accustomed to crude consumption growing almost every year for over a century. Already, BP, Royal Dutch Shell PLC and other companies have been investing more in natural gas, which has become a vital fuel for producing electricity, and experimenting with renewable production. “The […]