[1] In 1996, the IEA relocated its headquarters from the Château de la Muette, which it shared with the OECD, to commercially leased space located within the Embassy of Australia, Paris.

Members are expected to draw up plans on demand reduction and efficiency measures that can be implemented during energy emergencies.

In 2015, the IEA's chief economist Fatih Birol was appointed executive director, the first time an official from within the organization was picked to lead it.

[20] China, Indonesia, and Thailand were the first to join and the IEA now has thirteen[4] Association countries, including Ukraine since July 2022.

[36] The Governing Board is responsible for the IEA's administrative proceedings and approving binding decisions in relation to energy developments.

The IEA has several Standing Groups and Committees, focusing on energy research and technology, long-term cooperation, emergency preparedness, and other topics.

Member are required to maintain total oil stock levels equivalent to at least 90 days of the previous year's net imports.

The process involves authorisation by the Governing Board, discussions with the executive director, and the sharing of information related to the criteria for membership with the Secretariat.

The IEA collaborates with Association countries on a wide range of energy-related issues determined through joint programmes of work.

The IEA's analytical work is split into various categories including policy recommendations, tracking, market forecasts, technical roadmapping, and scenario analysis.

The report was the basis for a game created by the IEA and the Financial Times in which players compete to see if they can reduce emissions to net zero.

The publication combines historical analysis with projections to 2030 for topics such as charging infrastructure, CO2 emissions, energy use, and related policy developments.

In October 2021, the Commission published a report for twelve recommendations for a people-centered approach to the clean energy transition.

[74] TCPs provide support to independent, international groups of government and industry experts to research, develop, and commercialise energy technologies and related issues.

Examples of TCPs include the Energy in Buildings and Communities (EBC), Photovoltaic Power Systems (PVPS), and Hybrid and Electric Vehicles (HEV).

[75][76][77] In the past, the IEA has been criticized by environmental groups for underplaying the role of renewable energy technologies in favor of nuclear[78] and fossil fuels.

[81] For example, in 1998, the IEA predicted global wind electricity generation would total 47.4 GW by 2020, but EWG's report states that this level was reached by the end of 2004.

[85][86] Ahead of the launch of the 2009 World Energy Outlook, the British daily newspaper The Guardian, referring to an unidentified senior IEA official, alleged that the agency was deliberately downplaying the risk of peak oil under pressures from the US.

According to a second unidentified former senior IEA official it was "imperative not to anger the Americans" and that the world has already entered the "peak oil zone".

[87] The Guardian also referred to a team of scientists from Uppsala University in Sweden who studied the 2008 World Energy Outlook and concluded the forecasts of the IEA were unattainable.

"[90] In 2023, the IEA predicted that demand for fossil fuels such as oil, natural gas and coal would reach an all-time high by 2030.

[91] OPEC rejected the IEA's forecast, saying "what makes such predictions so dangerous, is that they are often accompanied by calls to stop investing in new oil and gas projects.

[97] In January 2022, the IEA announced plans to make all its data and analyses freely available and open-access, a move endorsed by its executive director and governing board.

[99] In October 2023, the IEA made the World Energy Outlook 2023 dataset available for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons license.

Al-Falih was exasperated with those claims, arguing that natural depletion, and strong demand growth meant that there was plenty of room for new supplies, while the shale drillers would not crash the market.