Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi Calls for Clear Roadmap and Investment in Energy Transition

Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, Qatar’s Minister of State for Energy Affairs and President and CEO of QatarEnergy, emphasized the importance of a well-defined roadmap with specific targets to achieve a fair and efficient energy transition. Speaking at the 12th LNG Producer-Consumer Conference in Tokyo, Japan, Al-Kaabi urged the world to consider a transition that is realistic, stable, and prioritizes the needs of less affluent nations. He stressed the significance of integrating natural gas into the current and future energy mix as a secure and dependable base load for most countries, even beyond 2050. Al-Kaabi stated that gas will play a crucial role in achieving a successful and unwavering energy transition. Highlighting the unresolved issue of insufficient investment in the oil and gas upstream sector, Al-Kaabi pointed out the resulting lack of clarity, supply uncertainty, and increased global instability. To address this, Qatar is taking a proactive approach by providing the world with the cleanest available hydrocarbon energy source, meeting both economic and environmental aspirations. QatarEnergy’s projects are expected to contribute about 40 percent of new global LNG supplies by 2029. These projects focus on significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions through carbon capture and sequestration, as well as the utilization of solar energy. The aim is to achieve an overall reduction in carbon intensity of approximately 30 percent compared to previous generation designs. In another conference, Al-Kaabi expressed concerns about the negative portrayal of oil and gas, which has led to substantial declines in sector investments. He noted that over the past decade, there has been an average reduction of 25 percent in investments, deviating from the expected normal investment cycle. While the market has been somewhat buffered by a warm winter in 2022-2023 and filled storage in Europe, Al-Kaabi cautioned that replenishing storage will not be easy, and investments are still lagging behind the necessary levels.