I regret that my schedule did not allow me to attend the 14th Austrian-Arab Economic Forum, but I am grateful for the opportunity to address you today.

I would like to begin by congratulating the Austrian-Arab Chamber of Commerce (AACC) on the 35th anniversary of its founding. This longevity is testament to the Chamber’s vital role as a bridge builder and facilitator of economic, cultural and scientific cooperation between Austria and Arab countries.

Like the AACC, OPEC’s work also depends on fostering dialogue and cooperation, be it at the OPEC Secretariat in Vienna, among OPEC’s 12 Member Countries, as part of the Declaration of Cooperation with 10 non-OPEC oil-producing countries, or with a host of external stakeholders.

In this regard, Vienna and OPEC share a special bond, with the city being home to OPEC since 1965. Our cooperation to date has borne many fruitful initiatives, such as the Vienna Energy Scholar Programme.

Now in its fourth year, the VESP was formed to strengthen OPEC’s relationship with Vienna, celebrate our extensive, shared history, and give back to the community. It does so by bringing together brilliant young minds and providing them with the knowledge to better understand today’s complex energy landscape.

Here, I would like to commend the thematic focus of this year’s economic forum, ‘Fossil Energy, Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency’. It reflects the reality that no single form of energy can meet expected future energy demand alone. Instead, an “all-peoples, all-fuels and all-technologies” approach is required.

To demonstrate why, I would like to highlight five key points on energy demand, with a specific focus on oil.

First, globalenergy demand is set to rise.

Our recently released World Oil Outlook 2024 sees global primary energy demand increasing by 24% to 2050. There are many reasons for this, including expected increases in population, urbanization, the middle class and energy-intensive technologies, as well as the need to bring energy to the billions of people that still go without.

The global population is set to reach 9.7 billion by 2050, up from over 8 billion in 2023. By 2030, another 500 million people are expected to move into cities across the world. To put this in context, this urbanization drive will requirethe addition of around 249 cities the size of Vienna. The fifth billionth person is also expected to join the middle class before 2030, up from over four billion today.

Additionally, energy infrastructure is set to be challenged by emerging technologies. AI expansion and the corresponding demand for computing data centres, for example, is driving the fastest growth in US power demand since the start of the millennium, outpacing grid expansions.

We all want lower emissions, but we cannot ignore the world’s growing need for ample, reliable and affordable supplies of energy.

Second, our energy future requires massive investment – in all energies.

In this regard, calls to stop investing in new oil projects are gravely out of step with energy realities. Hydrocarbons make up about 80% of the global energy mix, with oil comprising around 30%. These huge contributions to energy security have remained largely unchanged since the 1980s.

In contrast, despite $9.5 trillion spent on ‘transitioning’ over the past two decades, wind and solarmake up around 4% of today’s global energy mix, while electric vehicles have a global penetration rate of between 2% and 3%.

This is not to undermine the importance of renewables or EVs, especially as their market share will increase. Instead, it is to highlight the scale of the energy challenges facing us for those rashly calling to stop investing in oil.

OPEC estimates that no new investment in the industry would see supplies fall by 23 million barrels per day (mb/d) by 2030, resulting in huge volatility.

Third, this instability would be further exacerbated by the fact that global oil demand continues to rise, especially as ever more policymakers reconsider future energy pathways amid the implications of initial, unrealistic net zero policies.

At OPEC, we do not see a peak in oil demand by 2050. In our World Oil Outlook 2024, oil demand rises from 102 mb/d in 2023 to around 120 mb/d in 2050.

Fourth, it is crucial to recognize that long-term projections of strong oil demand growth are largely driven by the non-OECD.

Billions of people in the developing world are still playing energy catch-up. 1.18 billion live in areas so dark that they provide no statistical evidence of electricity usage from space, while 2.3 billion still lack clean cooking solutions.

To mitigate energy poverty, policymakers must ensure just and inclusive energy transitions that reflect all nations’ stages of development, in keeping with the principle of ‘common but differentiated responsibilities’. After all, all populations deserve comparable standards of living, electricity and clean cooking.

Fifth, regional imbalances underscore that the world needs to strike a careful balance between delivering the affordable energy products and services that people require, and reducing emissions.

Towards this end, OPEC Member Countries are investing in both renewables and oil to meet consumer needs. They are improving efficiencies, implementing low-emissions solutions and mobilizing cleaner technologies like carbon capture utilization and storage.

By investing in all fuels and technologies, many countries across the OPEC+ family – including the incumbent COP troika of the UAE, Azerbaijan and Brazil – are showing that it is possible to be leaders in renewables and hubs for technological development while producing the oil the world needs now and long into the future.

Ultimately, the energy futures of 9.7 billion peopledepend on policymakers adopting similarly prudent approaches and investing accordingly today.

With that, I would like to thank the AACC and the Union of Arab Chambers for the opportunity to address you, and wish you all fruitful discussions.