Warm winter saved ‘humanity and Europe’ from severe energy crisis, says Energy Minister Saad Al-Kaabi
A warm winter saved the EU from a serious energy crisis, but the “The worse is yet to come” for the bloc, Qatari Energy Minister Saad Al-Kaabi warned on Tuesday, citing a lack of investment in oil and gas.
Speaking at the Qatar Economic Forum in Doha, he claimed that a “aggressive” the energy transition will discourage investments in hydrocarbons and could lead to energy shortages in the EU over the next decade.
“There is going to be a big shortage of gas in the future, mainly because of the push of the energy transition which we believe is very aggressive,” Al-Kaabi warned. “Economic stability and environmental responsibility are not mutually exclusive. You have to have both.”
The EU is grappling with an unprecedented energy crisis following a drop in oil and gas shipments from Russia. The sanctions the bloc has imposed on Russian energy imports have led to record inflation and an overall crisis in the cost of living in the EU.
“The only thing that saved humanity and Europe this year was a warm winter and a slowing economy,” AL-Kaabi said, adding that “If the economy starts spinning again in (2024) and you only have a normal winter, I think the worst is yet to come.”
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He also urged European officials to stop “demonizing” fossil fuels.
“If (European leaders have) a proper plan and sit down with producers, and oil and gas companies are not demonized, reality will kick in and we will have a sensible solution,” he added. . he said.
Qatar is one of the world’s largest producers of liquefied natural gas and is investing tens of billions of dollars to increase its production capacity.
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