OPEC Secretary General Haitham Al Ghais has said that some $11.1 trillion will need to be invested in exploring and producing crude oil by 2045.
This is in order to meet the world’s need for energy, and was disclosed in an interview with WAM, The UAE’s official news agency.
In addition, Ghais said $1.7 trillion and $1.2 trillion will need to be invested in the downstream and midstream sectors, respectively. He went on to say:
“Allocating more investments in the oil industry will contribute to promoting the sustainability of the global energy sector, securing sufficient and reliable supplies for the world as a whole, and ensuring secure supplies for future generations.”
Shell, which also make the Shell Gadus grease range, recently said in its 2024 Energy Transition Strategy that it supported a “balanced and orderly” transition to lower carbon technologies, in order to ensure energy supplies remain affordable and secure.
In a similar note, Al Ghais also wrote in a recent article about the devastating consequences if oil were to disappear overnight, concluding that the world should:
“…be cautious of endangering the present, in the name of saving the future.”
In its last long-term outlook, OPEC predicted that by 2045, the global demand for oil will increase to 116 million barrels per day (bpd) compared to a little over 100 million bpd last year.
Al Ghais also highlighted the significance of crude oil as a raw material for developing low-carbon infrastructure projects, such as solar panels, wind turbines and the batteries for electric vehicles.
