(PatriotWise.com) — The head of OPEC warned this week that a lack of sufficient investment in the oil sector poses a danger to energy security worldwide and could send crude oil prices above $100 a barrel, CNN reported.
While attending the ADIPEC energy conference in Abu Dhabi on Monday, OPEC Secretary-General Haitham Al Ghais told CNN that to prevent global energy prices from skyrocketing, there must be a total worldwide investment in the oil industry of at least $12 trillion between now and 2045.
Al Ghais said the current level of investment in the oil industry is “dangerous,” explaining that underinvestment endangers global energy security and vastly increases the possibility that oil prices will continue to rise as demand grows.
The global benchmark crude oil price has risen 29 percent since mid-June and was trading near $97 a barrel last week, the highest price since last November, primarily due to extended output cuts by Russia and Saudi Arabia.
When asked if oil will top $100 a barrel as some analysts suggest, Al Ghais said while OPEC does not forecast prices, “the factors that may lead” to crude oil reaching $100, including the underinvestment in the oil industry, “have been there for some time and continue to be there.”
Al Ghais stressed how critical it is that the world “gets this right,” noting that a lack of investment is “actually endangering energy security.”
In explaining why he believes the global investment should be at least $12 trillion over the next two decades, Al Ghais said that with the current economic and population growth, there is “no way on earth” the world’s energy needs would be met by renewable energy alone or by a reliance on hydrogen.
He said that to ensure that the global energy supply is sufficient, the world needs “stable,” “affordable,” and “reliable” energy rather than “intermittent sources.”
