Saudi Gazette report

RIYADH — Minister of Energy Prince Abdulaziz Bin Salman has said Saudi Arabia will continue to invest in clean oil and gas and expand the country’s production capacity.

The minister of energy has warned that the sharp decline in investment in oil and gas threatens energy security, stating that there is a real danger.

“The danger is that the world will not be able to produce all the energy it needs to promote recovery,” he said on Sunday during the inauguration of the 2022 International Petroleum Technology Conference (IPTC).

This lack of investment harms the interest of energy consumers and creates challenges for policy makers by increasing prices and raising concerns related to shortage of supplies, he said. He indicated that the campaign against new investments in oil and gas has a short-term outlook, and its negative effects on the recovery of the global economy and the welfare of families have begun to appear.

Prince Abdulaziz stressed that this year, the conference focuses on promoting global recovery through sustainable energy, stating that the Kingdom seeks to ensure the immunity of the three pillars of the energy world: securing necessary energy supplies, continuous economic development by providing reliable energy sources and facing climate change.

He underscored that these three pillars must be observed without sacrificing one for the other.

He noted the role of OPEC and non-OPEC producing countries (OPEC Plus) in securing an unprecedented achievement in global energy markets, at a meeting held at the beginning of 2020, which, he said, witnessed a distinctive model of cooperation and joint work in order to organize the largest supply cut in history.

He said that this procedure successfully led to achieving its goal of stopping the dangerous and unprecedented decline in global energy markets.

“Since last summer, we have developed a careful and balanced plan to restore supplies to meet the increasing needs of the global economy, which is recovering,” he said, adding that the frequency of OPEC Plus meetings shows its serious commitment to managing dynamic and unpredictable events transparently.

"This has exacerbated the uncertainty and contradictory signals in policy-making in some parts of the world", he stated.

With regard to sustainability, the minister said it is a natural result of the circular carbon economy framework that the Kingdom advocates and enjoyed the support of the leaders of G20. He said the energy transition is accelerating, but focusing on only certain elements of this transformation such as renewable or alternative energy would be another fatal mistake.

He indicated that energy security requires the world continue to use all energy options, including hydrocarbon resources, which have driven economic development for centuries, but at the heart of this strategy lies a challenge related to how to supply hydrocarbon fuels and at the same time reduce greenhouse gas emissions. “Technology is an essential pillar to meet this challenge,” he noted.

He reiterated that innovative technology will be essential in implementing the Green Saudi Initiative, which aspires to meet half of the domestic electricity need from renewable energy sources by 2030 and reach zero carbon emissions by 2060.