[Asia Economy Reporter Park Byung-hee] Amin Nasser, CEO of Saudi Aramco, the world's largest crude oil producer, argued that investment in fossil fuels must continue to prevent social unrest.
On the 6th (local time), at the World Petroleum Council (WPC) annual meeting held in Houston, Texas, USA, CEO Nasser claimed that rapid green energy transition policies could cause inflation and lead to social instability, according to major foreign media reports on the same day. The WPC annual meeting opened on the 5th and will continue until the 9th.
CEO Nasser pointed out that the world is under a serious misconception that a transition to green energy can happen overnight. He argued that the transition to green energy is by no means simple, and therefore fossil fuel use cannot be drastically reduced.
CEO Nasser said, "I know that quite a few people find it difficult to publicly acknowledge that oil and gas will play a key role during and after the energy transition," but added, "Accepting reality is much easier than dealing with energy insecurity, inflation, and social unrest caused by rising prices and the chaos in each country's carbon neutrality policies."
Nasser criticized the global energy transition policies as focusing on very unrealistic assumptions about the future, stating that the world is facing confusion as a result.
Following abnormal cold waves in the central and southern United States in February that caused large-scale power outages, abnormal weather events have frequently occurred worldwide this year, increasing demands for a transition to green energy to combat global warming. Meanwhile, prices of crude oil, coal, and natural gas have all surged, leading to an energy crisis.
At the WPC meeting that day, concerns were raised about the energy security crisis and the speed of the transition to green energy in relation to the recent rise in fossil fuel prices. Voices expressing worries about the decline in fossil fuel investment were also heard.
Jeff Miller, CEO of American oilfield services company Halliburton, said that the fossil fuel industry has suffered from severe investment shortages over the past seven years. Miller pointed out that this is due to increased social demands for climate change response and poor profitability in the oil and gas industry. He added that upstream investment, referring to oil exploration and production sectors, has decreased by 50% compared to the historical average, and upstream investment in West Africa has dropped by as much as 75%.
CEO Nasser stated that most key figures in the energy industry and political circles are aware of the risks of poor fossil fuel investment but are unable to speak publicly, and he argued that they should speak out openly.
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
