Minister of Energy and Industry, H E Dr. Mohammed bin Saleh Al Sada (right) during the meeting with Mark Wesley Menezes, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Energy of the US, in New Delhi.
DOHA: Minister of Energy and Industry, H E Dr. Mohammed bin Saleh Al Sada has stressed the importance of the return of investments in the energy sector, which witnessed a significant contraction in the period of oil prices decline from mid 2014 to 2016, adding that despite the recovery of prices during 2017, this was not reflected on investment in energy sources, especially in the oil and gas sector.
This came during the participation of the Minister at the 16th International Energy Forum Ministerial (IEF16) session, which concluded yesterday.
Dr Al Sada also stressed that energy sources will remain the cornerstone for achieving the development goals in all countries of the world in the foreseeable future.
During the session themed “Global Shifts: The Future of Global Energy Security - Finding New Balances”, the Minister said that global demand for energy resources is developing with the growth of the global economy, however, demand growth rates vary among different energy sources. He pointed out that the growth rate of demand for natural gas has achieved the highest rate of growth in the fossil fuel system, especially LNG, which achieved growth in global demand of more than 10 percent during the year 2017, which exceeded growth rates in demand even on renewable energy sources.
The session was attended by the Ministers of Energy, Industry and Commerce from Iran, Japan, Turkey and Russia.
The session touched on a number of themes related to its main subject, including: the impact of international transformations on supply and demand of energy sources and its trade movement.
On the sidelines of the meet, Dr. Al Sada met with senior officials from the energy sector of the member countries of the International Energy Forum. He met with the State Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan Kosaburo Nishime, and Deputy Secretary of the Mexican Ministry of Energy Dr. Aldo Flores-Quiroga.
Discussions during the two meetings dealt with areas of cooperation between the State of Qatar and the two friendly countries in the field of energy and ways of developing them.
He also met with Mark Wesley Menezes, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Energy, the US. The two sides discussed means of enhancing cooperation between the State of Qatar and the United States of America, in particular In the areas of energy and joint investment with US companies. They also discussed ways to activate the memorandum of understanding signed between the two countries on the sidelines of the meeting Strategy held recently in Washington DC.
Dr. Al Sada expressed Qatar’s appreciation for investments and for US companies operating in the State of Qatar, which is a solid foundation for further cooperation and partnerships in any of the two countries or any other regions of the world. The discussions also covered cooperation in the field of energy security, and the importance of activating this cooperation on both bilateral and international levels. Dr. Al Sada expressed Qatar’s appreciation for the close relations between the two countries which was established and is being established by the Emir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and the US President Donald Trump.
In a separate meeting with India’s Minister of Petroleum and Gas Shri Pradhan, Dr. Al Sada also discussed the joint cooperation between the two friendly countries’ energy, industry and investment. Dr. Al Sada expressed Qatar’s pride in the fruitful cooperation between the two countries to continue to operate as a reliable supplier of liquefied natural gas (LNG), oil and fertilizers and petrochemicals to India.
The International Energy Forum is the world’s largest gathering of energy ministers, it was established in 1991 and includes 72 member states, including India, and its member states account for more than 90 percent of world supply and demand for oil and gas.
