The situation in the energy market requires the global community to reconsider plans to switch to green energy sources and keep investments in oil and gas projects, Amin Nasser, head of the Saudi Aramco national oil company , said in an interview published Monday on the website of the Financial Times.
"The current crisis just shows us that there is not enough spare capacity [in oil and gas production] around the world," Nasser, who is attending the World Economic Forum in Davos, told the paper. "Instead of working on an [energy] transition that will help the whole world by 2050, we are pushing the world to use more coal and not taking energy security, affordability and energy availability seriously," he added.
According to Nasser, even as global energy activity declines, global oil demand will not fall below 100 million bpd, and could rise to 105 million bpd in the near term as transportation flows recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.
"In the absence of investment, a system that assumes demand at 100 million barrels becomes very vulnerable to unforeseen disruptions that could happen," he said, reiterating that investment in the oil and gas industry is needed to keep prices stable.
The head of the largest oil company in the world by production volume added that Saudi Arabia could increase production within 30 days from 10.2m bpd to a maximum possible 12m bpd to meet demand. Nasser also expects that the production level in Russia will not go below 8 mln bpd as these volumes will be bought at the expense of discounts. At the same time, he said, it will be more difficult for Russia to find buyers for its gas as European countries reduce their consumption.
GSV "Russia - Islamic world"
Photo: Creative Commons
Based on materials from TASS