By Adedapo Adesanya
The Secretary-General of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), Mr Haitham Al-Ghais, has once again kicked against calls from certain quarters to abandon oil, saying they are “wrong” and “unrealistic.”
Many organisations such as the International Energy Agency (IEA) as well as other groups have called for a total end to fossil fuel use in the face of rising climate issues.
Speaking in Houston last week at the CERAWeek conference, he said, “A transition strategy reset is urgently needed and my proposal is this. We should abandon the fantasy of phasing out oil and gas, and instead invest in them adequately, reflecting realistic demand assumptions.”
He expected that oil would continue to play a vital role in global energy markets over the coming decades.
Mr Al-Ghais warned of serious risks if oil production or use was halted, noting he expects oil would continue to play a vital role in global energy markets for years and decades to come.
He pointed to its integral role in various essential daily activities worldwide, including transportation, travel, energy production, and manufacturing.
As for the main sectors that will be affected by the disappearance of oil, Mr Al-Ghais said that the impact would extend to include means of transportation, whether by air, sea or land, emergency vehicles such as ambulances, food production, packaging and storage, in addition to medicines, hospital equipment and medical supplies.
“If oil disappeared, this would also affect the production of renewable energy, such as manufacturing of wind turbines and solar panels, as their production is linked to oil products.”
He further warned of catastrophic repercussions, as millions of people will lose their jobs, while industrial production and global economic growth will slow down. This will also exacerbate the energy poverty crisis in many countries around the world when millions lack the most basic electrical needs, such as lighting, he remarked.
The OPEC secretary general noted that the organisation was now finding widespread support from voices calling for rationality to find realistic solutions, at a time when false information that is not based on scientific foundations has spread about this issue.
Recall that the Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited, Mr Mele Kyari, also made this assertion, saying Nigeria would take a different approach.
He pointed in this regard to reports about expectations of reaching a peak in demand for oil by 2030.
“Unfortunately, it is built on ideological foundations” that push for the abandonment of oil, gas, and fossil fuels in general.
Mr Al-Ghais expected the size of the global economy to double by 2045.
“All these developments confirm that the world will need all available energy sources, as energy demand is expected to rise by 23 per cent, and global demand for oil will reach the level of 116 million barrels per day by the year 2045,” he said.
