Assistant professor Sarah Sharma told CBC the West Coast pipeline fails on economics because the IEA says oil demand is “slowing.” That is half a citation
IEA World Energy Outlook 2025 restored the Current Policies Scenario the agency had dropped after 2020. In it, oil demand rises from about 100 million barrels a day in 2024 to 105 million in 2035 and 113 million by 2050. No peak. Even the Stated Policies case only flattens near 102 million around 2030. India’s oil use still climbs from 5.4 million to about 7.4 million by 2035 in that scenario. “Slowing growth” is not “no market.”
Her Sinopec line is real: in August 2026 the chairman said China’s demand very likely peaked in 2025. One refiner’s call, made in a price spike, is not the global balance. And Europe’s documented ask is for Canadian LNG — Uniper’s 20-year deal, SEFE, France — not a reason to pretend Asian crude demand has vanished
Selective facts do not give a realistic picture. She is a climate-governance political economist, not a market forecaster. CBC put her on to judge the economic case. She answered with the IEA number that fit and left out the one that mattered most