A dramatic increase in the use of diesel in Europe is threatening future supply, it has been claimed.

Oil consultants Wood Mackenzie have said in a study released today that Europe will face a shortfall of 50 million tonnes a year by 2015 under current investment schemes, reports the Financial Times.

This is less than a fifth of what the estimated demand will be.

At present 200 million tonnes of diesel are used every year in the area, and according to the FT, this figure is expected to rise.

It seems that oil companies had not been expecting such a dramatic increase in diesel usage in Europe and are finding it difficult to cope with the demand.

"There's going to be such a shortage [of diesel] that at the moment there's no answer to [it], because there's just not enough investment being planned to meet this," Aileen Jamieson, the project manager for the study is reported to have said.

To make matters worse, it is looking unlikely that Russian or Middle Eastern imports will be able to make up the shortage.


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