Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) Secretary General Haitham al-Ghais issued a warning on Monday regarding potential price increases for commodities and other products in the near future as a result of a reduction in investments in the oil and gas sector.

He clarified that the majority of goods and products are made primarily of crude oil and its derivatives.

At the 12th Arab Energy Conference, which is held in Doha, Qatar, al-Ghais said the world is shifting to investments in renewable energy while the volume of investments in fossil fuels declined over the past years due to the COVID-19 crisis and the global fight to end the use of fossil fuels.

He said the impact of this decline may not appear now, adding that the world needs investments amounting to $14 trillion until 2045 in the oil and gas sector.

Speaking at the ministerial panel session titled “International Developments in Energy Markets and their Implications for the Arab Energy Sector,” al-Ghais underscored that all forms of energy will be required in the future to meet rising energy demand.

He spoke about the energy transition challenges, amid expectations for the global economy to double and the world population to surge to about 9.5 billion by 2050.

Listing an example to illustrate the scale of the challenges facing the global energy sector, the OPEC Secretary-General said, “About 9-10 million citizens currently live in the city of London… There are expectations that about 500,000 people will move from remote areas to new cities around the world by 2030… Therefore, by 2030, we will need 50 cities like London.”

For his part, Qatari Minister of State for Energy Affairs Saad bin Sherida Al Kaabi stressed the difficulty of dispensing with fossil energy, pointing out its importance as an intermediate product that enters into the composition of a number of other products.

The Minister warned that less dependence on oil and gas without finding other alternatives will surely undermine global energy security.

The 12th Arab Energy Conference is held in Doha under the slogan “Energy and Arab Cooperation.”

The conference examines the efforts of Arab countries to tackle the challenges of energy security, and issues of energy, environment, and sustainable development. The conference also discusses topics related to Arab and global energy resources, downstream industries, and energy demand management in Arab countries.