CERAWEEK - IEA chief sees investment needed in existing oil and gas fields

Fatih Birol said that the International Energy Agency in Paris, which is headed by Fatih Birol himself, has a responsibility to invest in oil and natural gas fields for the sake of global energy security.

The energy watchdog of industrialized nations is more in agreement with President

Donald Trump

After years of pressure from fossil-fuel advocates, the pro-drilling campaign was relaunched.

He said, "I would like to be clear... that there will be a requirement for investment. This is especially true to combat the decline of the existing fields." At the CERAWeek conference on energy in Houston. He said that there was a "need for upstream oil and gas investments".

Birol was under pressure by the Trump administration and the Republican members of Congress to shift the IEA focus in recent years towards clean energy policy.

The IEA has stated that companies should refrain from investing in new coal, oil, and gas projects by 2021 if they want to achieve net zero emissions for the fight against climate change. Joe Biden's administration made combating global warming a priority.

Since more than 50 years, the IEA has guided industrialized government policy in energy supply, security and investment. The IEA claims it must focus on what its members deem important for the future of energy security. Around a quarter is provided by the United States.

Birol said at the conference that there is a problem with underinvesting in existing oil and natural gas fields, as fossil fuels play a vital role in meeting global energy demands.

He stated that out of the $400 billion invested in global oil and natural gas, approximately $360 billion is used to offset the decline in oil and natural gas fields.

Birol stated that "there is no discussion about the decline of the existing fields."

Former oil industry and markets chief of the IEA in January

criticized

The agency's focus was on the global energy transformation and said that the agency should concentrate its efforts on oil and natural gas supplies. (Reporting and editing by Chris Reese, Marguerita Choy and Timothy Gardner)

(source: Reuters)