Amin Nasser, president and CEO of Saudi
Aramco, recently spoke at the
Society of Petroleum Engineers’ 2017 Middle East Oil & Gas Show and
Conference in Bahrain.
Nasser said the energy industry is undergoing a transition
that will see the planet become reliant on a wide array of energy sources, including oil
and gas.
“The industry is transforming significantly with innovation
and technological advancements driven by global challenges such as climate
change,” Nasser said.
The world’s
population is expected to grow from 7.3 billion in 2015 to 9.7 billion in 2050. While alternative sources of energy are increasing, they will not be
capable of shouldering a significant burden of the global population’s energy
demands. Oil and gas, therefore, will retain an influential place in the energy
mix, Nasser said.
“Even as electric vehicles grow, a large number of vehicles
will still be advanced conventional vehicles for quite some time helped by
continued improvements in their mileage efficiency and emissions performance,” Nasser said.
Nasser
said continued investment in oil and gas will be key to guaranteeing enough
supply for current and future energy needs.
“If we proactively respond to the evolving challenges, I’m confident the industry will have a bright future,” Nasser said.
