The News
The CEOs of two of the world’s largest energy companies — Amin Nasser of Saudi Arabia’s Aramco and Sultan Al Jaber of the UAE’s ADNOC — touched on similar themes at CERAWeek, the oil and gas industry’s main annual conference: humanity must not choose between renewables and fossil fuels. We need it all.
Al Jaber, the former COP28 president, said that consensus from the 2023 summit “injected energy realism into the climate process” and that in order to cater to the needs of a growing global population “we need an ‘and-and’ approach” that includes hydrocarbons, renewables, and nuclear. (The remarks reiterated an argument Jaber has made previously, including in a Semafor piece.)
Nasser — speaking after US Energy Secretary Chris Wright, himself a former energy executive who was bullish on the industry — carried on the feeling of triumph for oil and gas. “We can all feel the winds of history in our industry’s sails again,” Nasser said. While stressing that Aramco is investing in both conventional and renewable energy, he criticized the $10 trillion in global spending on renewables, arguing they were uncompetitive, especially as much of the growth in energy demand will come from poorer countries that he said couldn’t afford the higher costs of electric vehicles and green hydrogen.
Know More
The remarks, while unsurprising for energy executives, come as global climate action recedes and demand for energy rises: Power demand in the US, for example, is on the rise after decades of stasis. It’s also a moment when many countries are concerned about energy security after wars and sanctions disrupted supplies.
Oil demand is growing, liquefied natural gas and chemical sales are projected to rise by more than 40% by 2035, and electricity will surge by 70%, Al Jaber said. A big driver is artificial intelligence. “The true cost of AI is not just in code, it’s in kilowatts. The race for AI supremacy is essentially an energy play,” he said.
Nasser said policies and investments should consider growing demand, and “serve the needs of developed and developing nations alike,” in reference to renewables. Technology also has a role, he added, to make the consumption side more efficient and reduce emissions during the extraction and production of hydrocarbons.
It wasn’t exactly “drill, baby, drill” — but Al Jaber concluded with: “Let’s make energy great again.”