International Energy Forum urges industry to Invest in clean energy technologies

International Energy Forum urges industry to Invest in clean energy technologies

HOUSTON, United States, 11th December, 2021 (WAM) -- The energy industry must look beyond uncertainty about the shape of future energy demand and invest in clean energy technologies across all energy sources, the Secretary General of the International Energy Forum Joseph McMonigle said in a speech.

Widely divergent scenarios of the future oil and natural gas markets, reflecting different pathways to net zero carbon emissions, are contributing to market uncertainty, and raising hurdles to new oil and gas investments, he told an audience at the World Petroleum Congress in Houston.

"To bridge these apparent gaps between scenarios and overcome price spikes and other unintended potholes further down the road, the world must scale clean energy technologies across all energy sources, including the petroleum sector," he said.

The growing gap between main and alternative net zero pathways reflect differences between current oil and gas demand dependencies and trajectories to hit the targets pledged under the UN Paris Agreement.

For example, natural gas demand may grow by almost 40 percent or drop by 30 percent by 2040, according to different scenarios, Mr McMonigle said. Policy and technology pathways that affect energy markets are ever less certain, he added.

"While we all embrace the stellar rise