The Saudi Minister of Energy and Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources, Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, said that the Kingdom has developed multiple scenarios to deal with potential crises, and has worked to prepare for them in a way that enhances its ability to understand its potential, develop it, and expand in the future. Pointing out that advance planning made it possible to deal with recent developments and avoid a larger energy crisis.
Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman said, during a dialogue session within the World Petroleum Conference in Riyadh, that the scale of the challenges witnessed in the past eight months exceeded what many had expected, even under the assumption of the most severe scenarios, adding: “However, we have not witnessed an energy crisis of this magnitude, as much as we were able to avoid it.”
He explained that threats to energy security remain, and that dealing with them requires focusing on core business, and providing multiple options that allow flexibility and maneuvering when crises occur, rather than just dealing with their repercussions after they occur.
He stressed that preparing for the future is not linked to economic indicators or financial returns only; Rather, it requires establishing a mentality based on anticipating challenges and believing in the necessity of preparing for them, stressing that the Kingdom’s mission is to ensure its readiness to deal with the various possibilities that the energy system may face.
He added that the various parties faced difficulties in containing the repercussions of the recent developments, but he stressed that the efforts made contributed to overcoming a large part of the challenges, without going into details that he said went beyond what he should talk about.
Referring to the Kingdom’s operational and export capabilities, the Minister of Energy said: “I do not want to brag about the size of our exports, but I am sure that many of our friends here will be surprised by what we are doing today.”
Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman touched on the absence of Alexander Novak, Russian Deputy Prime Minister and responsible for the energy file, from the dialogue session, explaining that he was keen to participate, but circumstances in Moscow prevented his plane from taking off, after a member of his family suffered a health condition.
The Secretary-General of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), Haitham Al-Ghais, said that the organization expects the growth of global oil demand to rise to 1.7 million barrels per day in 2027, with the deferred demand being achieved as a result of the developments witnessed by the markets during the current year. Pointing out that the organization reduced its estimates of demand growth in 2026 to 400 thousand barrels per day, compared to 1.4 million barrels per day in its expectations at the beginning of the year.
Al-Ghais added - during a dialogue session at the World Petroleum Conference in Riyadh, on Monday - that several factors contributed to containing oil market movements, including the decline in China’s imports as a result of the accumulation of reserves, and the withdrawal of strategic oil reserves in a number of countries. Especially OECD countries, in addition to the slowdown in demand.
The East-West pipeline is an “insurance policy” for energy security
Al-Ghais pointed out that the “East-West” pipeline in Saudi Arabia represents a model of advance preparation to ensure energy security, saying that the Kingdom provides “the best example of providing what can be described as an insurance policy for energy security.”
He added: “This is a typical example of countries preparing for future events and developing something like an insurance policy in anticipation of any emergency.”
He pointed out that the pipeline, which extends from eastern to western Saudi Arabia, has proven its importance in dealing with recent developments, adding: “No one was talking about it; In fact, many people did not know about its existence, until we realized how useful and important it is.”
Al-Ghais said that oil still constitutes more than 30 percent of the global energy mix. Pointing out that oil supplies represent an essential element in global energy security.
Regarding the relationship between energy security and the shift towards reducing emissions, Al-Ghais raised questions about the impact of recent developments on long-term investments in hydrocarbons, and whether they will give efforts to reduce emissions and reach zero neutrality more urgency.
