Reuters Summit-Climate policies can't hurt us -OPEC
05 Jun 2007 13:42:16 GMT Source: Reuters
(For other news from the Reuters Global Energy Summit, click on http://www.reuters.com/summit/GlobalEnergy07?pid=500) By Gerard Wynn LONDON, June 5 (Reuters) - Climate change measures will not hurt big oil exporting countries, which instead will cash in on rising energy demand, said Abdullah al-Badri, secretary-general of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries. Badri was speaking on the eve of a meeting of leading industrialised countries where climate change will feature highly. German Chancellor Angela Merkel has pressed the Group of Eight (G8) nations to back a halving of greenhouse gas emissions by mid-century and has succeeded in securing a first-ever U.S. commitment to discuss a global, emissions-cutting goal. The prospect of such policies left OPEC unworried about the impact on demand for its oil. "We're not feeling threatened at all. We don't see it as a threat to consumption," Badri said on Tuesday at the Reuters Global Energy Summit. "The demand for oil will rise steadily," he added. "There's no magic alternative to oil. Fossil fuels will be the dominant energy for the forseeable future, for more than decades." OPEC comprises 12 developing country oil producers. Burning fossil fuels like coal and oil to produce energy is the biggest source of man-made carbon dioxide, which is the main cause of global warming, scientists say. "The situation is very serious," Badri said, regarding the global warming threat. "The environment is a concern, we're living on the same planet."He advocated burying carbon dioxide emissions from burning oil and gas, using a so far unproven technology that is being tested on so-called "clean coal" power plants. The onus was on developed countries, which had historically contributed most to global warming, to develop the technology, he added. "Our member countries didn't contribute to this. Why not have improved technology? We should look at clean oil, if we're looking at clean coal." The world's energy needs will rise 50 percent between now and 2030, and the world will invest $8 trillion in oil and gas production to keep up, he estimated. The demand for oil would rise annually by 1.3 million to 1.5 million barrels per day, to 118 million barrels per day by 2030, he added.
