Bharat says new hydrocarbon found offshore Guyana – a step towards prosperity
Sherida Al Kaabi, Minister of State for Energy Affairs, Qatar, said that renewable sources of energy do not completely solve the global energy needs.
“It is not responsible to say we do not use fossil fuel. It is like humanity shooting itself in the foot,” he added at the India Energy Week 2024 held from 6–9 February in Goa.
OPEC Secretary General OPEC Haitham Al Ghais Al Ghais observed that even as energy transition was vital, “energy transition can have multiple pathways.
“This is how we should look at energy transition. At OPEC we continue to invest, and we need investments of hundreds of billions of dollars over the next 20 years.”
Al Ghais also emphasised the need for investment in fossil fuel production. “We need to invest as demand is likely to continue to grow,” he added.
Joining the oil producers, Guyana Minister of Natural Resources Vickram Bharat highlighted that the new hydrocarbon found offshore Guyana was a step towards prosperity.
“The new hydrocarbon find offshore Guyana has made the world notice us. Our policy is very simple. Get hydrocarbons out of the ground as fast as possible and use that to build traditional sectors.
“The window on oil is closing, not so much for gas,” he underscored.
But Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri stated that the challenge is to make sure transition is done in an orderly manner.
“That we have access to traditional fuel and making predictable transition to cleaner fuel. Balanced and realistic dialogue is needed and not vilification of fossil fuel,” he said.
India’s recent reforms in the sector including diversification of sources of imports, and changes in gas pricing mechanism had ensured that prices of Petrol and Diesel in India declined while the global prices were shooting up, Puri pointed out.
The Ministers and OPEC Secretary General participated in a session on VUCA — volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity. It describes the situation of constant, unpredictable change that is now the norm in certain industries and areas of the business world, said MoPNG said in a release on 7 Feb. fiinews.com
