Aramco CEO: More likely Elvis will speak than energy transition plans to succeed
Saudi Aramco's CEO said Monday that policymakers and energy executives should rethink their energy transition plans. They must stop investing in elements of the energy transition which have failed and instead rethink the entire energy transition.
The remarks from the head the world's biggest oil company comes as the administration under President Donald Trump pushes for maximum oil and gas production. This is a dramatic U turn in U.S. Energy Policy after former President Joe Biden passed legislation to accelerate the shift away from fossil fuels.
As energy prices soared after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022 and their focus shifted to energy security, European policymakers slowed down the rollout of policies for clean energy. European oil majors have backed away from plans to develop greener technologies as they proved unprofitable.
Amin Nasser, CEO of Aramco, told executives at the CERAWeek Conference in Houston that "we can all feel history blowing in our industry again."
"It's time to stop reinforcing the failure," Nasser stated, referring specifically to green hydrogen, which has been a focus of energy-transition policies but is still too costly for commercial use.
He said, "In reality, it is more likely that Elvis will speak next than the plan as it stands now."
He said that new energy sources could complement fossil fuels, but they couldn't replace them. He added that investment in all energy sources was necessary to meet the global energy demand.
"... The current strategy of switching prematurely to immature alternative has been self-destructive. "New sources are not able to meet the demand growth."
He said that deregulation and incentives for financial institutions providing "unbiased financing" are necessary to ensure adequate investments in energy. He said that many financial institutions have reduced investments in fossil-fuels to favor more sustainable industries.
Nasser stated that Aramco spent more than $50 billion in the last year on conventional and renewable energy projects.
He added that the company is aiming to invest up to 12 gigawatts in solar and wind power by 2030.
Nasser called for the industry in his speech at the conference last summer to "abandon fantasy of phasing-out fossil fuels." Reporting by Arathy S. Somasekhar, Houston; Editing and production by Liz Hampton Simon Webb Marguerita Choy
(source: Reuters)
