By Tara Patel
March 16 (Bloomberg) -- Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest oil exporter, cautioned against falling investment in fossil fuels and a “premature shift” to renewable energy, which may leave the world short of fuels when the economy recovers.
All energy sources have a role in meeting the energy demand though the fossil fuels of oil, natural gas and coal will remain the world’s energy “work horse” for many decades to come, Saudi Arabian Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi said in a speech at the Energy Pact Conference in Geneva today.
Saudi Arabia and other OPEC members agreed yesterday in Vienna to maintain current production quotas, concerned that a fourth cut since September risked increasing energy costs while the global economy deteriorates.
New technologies, such as carbon capture and storage, will help make fossil fuels more environmentally acceptable, he said.
The country’s state energy company, Saudi Aramco, hopes to become the world’s biggest solar energy producer in future years, taking advantage of the desert kingdom’s plentiful sunshine, the minister said.
Oil reserves in Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest, will last for 80 years at current production rates and the world will rely on fossil fuels for four-fifths of its energy needs for many decades to come, he said.
Earlier today, al-Naimi, said he was “very happy,” with the outcome of yesterday’s OPEC meeting in Vienna.
To contact the reporter on this story: Tara Patel in Geneva at tpatel2@bloomberg.net
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment