Doha, May 23 (QNA) - HE Minister of State for Energy Affairs, President and CEO of QatarEnergy Eng. Saad bin Sherida Al Kaabi warned that governments' energy transition policies will discourage investment in fossil fuels and lead to natural gas scarcity in the next decade, including in Europe.
In the "Energy Minister Outlook" session at the Qatar Economic Forum on Tuesday, His Excellency expected a large shortage of gas in the future, mostly due to the energy transition, which is very aggressive.
Economic stability and environmental responsibility are not mutually exclusive, everyone have to have both, he said.
His Excellency added that the only thing that saved humanity and Europe this year was the warm winter and the slowdown in the economy around the world and if the economy returns in 2024, the worst is yet to come.
The Minister of State for Energy Affairs expressed his happiness at the G7 final statement on the need for more liquefied natural gas for global consumption.
His Excellency pointed out that the demand for gas from the expansion projects in the North East Field and the North South Field is very large.
He added that Qatar is on the verge of producing 126 million tons by 2026, stressing the need to carefully study matters regarding future energy supplies to achieve economic stability in light of the crises experienced by some countries of the world.
On the possibility of Qatar increasing its capacity to more than 126 million tons annually, the Minister of State for Energy Affairs said that when the right time comes and Qatar can do it technically, it will definitely do more.
In the same context, Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman affirmed the continuation of work with the OPEC + deal, in accordance with the proactive, preventive and precautionary measures taken by OPEC and its allies, regardless of any criticism.
He said that they deal with matters realistically and have a proactive view of what might happen in the future in the global economy.
HE Iraq's Oil Minister Hayan Abdel Ghani affirmed commitment to the OPEC+ deal, despite the economic difficulties that Iraq is going through.
Commenting on the resumption of pumping Iraqi oil through Turkiye, he said that Baghdad is waiting for a final response from Turkiye before pumping oil through the port of Ceyhan. He added the Turkish government has informed Iraq that it is assessing whether the pipeline was damaged as a result of the devastating earthquake that occurred in February, and that a technical team is assessing the situation. (QNA)