Sultan Al Jaber, Minister of industry and Advanced Technology, issued the appeal at the Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference (Adipec).
“The current situation on energy markets shows that while the world has agreed to accelerate the energy transition, it is still heavily reliant on oil and gas,” Al Jaber, who is also chief executive of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc), told the gathering.
“After almost a decade of underinvestment in our industry, the world has sleepwalked into a supply crunch. It is time to wake up!”
Al Jaber said the oil sector must invest $600 billion every year up to 2030 simply in order to keep up with expected demand.
“Renewable energy is the fastest growing segment of the energy mix, but oil and gas is still the biggest,” he said.
“We must achieve progress with pragmatism. If we are to successfully transition to the energy system of tomorrow, we cannot simply unplug from the energy system of today.”
Al Jaber added that as the world is now demanding energy with fewer carbon emissions, the UAE was ready to cooperate in fulfilling that aim.
“We continue to bring in new concession partners in cooperation on geological exploration, on developing traditional and non-traditional stocks,” he said. “But we are also asking to join us in the journey to the energy transition.”
