OPEC head accuses IEA of vilifying fossil fuel industry

Grand Gulf Energy

27/11/2023 15:02

* 
      OPEC dropped IEA as a source for data on oil market last
year
    

        * 
      OPEC, IEA have disagreed on demand outlooks, energy
transition 
    

        * 
      IEA called carbon capture an illusion 
    

        * 
      COP28 climate summit begins Nov. 30 in Dubai 
    

  
    By Maha El Dahan
       DUBAI, Nov 27 (Reuters) - OPEC Secretary General Haitham
Al Ghais on Monday accused the International Energy Agency (IEA)
of vilifying the oil and gas industry, in the latest clash
between the groups over climate policy. 
    Al Ghais was referring to a note published by the West's
energy watchdog on Thursday that said the fossil fuel industry
was facing a "moment of truth" where producers had to choose
between deepening the climate crisis or shifting to clean
energy. 
    "This presents an extremely narrow framing of challenges
before us, and perhaps expediently plays down such issues as
energy security, energy access and energy affordability," Al
Ghais said in a statement.  
    "It also unjustly vilifies the industry as being behind he
climate crisis." 
    The Organization of the Petroleum-Exporting Countries (OPEC)
and the Paris-based IEA have repeatedly clashed in recent years
over issues such as long-term oil demand prospects and
investment in new hydrocarbon supplies.
    The latest fall-out comes as the United Arab Emirates (UAE),
a major OPEC producer, prepares to host the COP28 U.N. climate
summit at the end of the week. 
    Al Ghais has said OPEC would be present at the climate
talks. 
    The IEA sees world fossil fuel demand peaking by 2030 as
more electric cars hit the road and China's economy grows more
slowly while shifting towards cleaner energy. 
    OPEC, de facto led by top oil exporter Saudi Arabia,
disagrees with the prediction. 
    It has described such projections as "dangerous", saying
they are often accompanied by calls to stop new oil and gas
investments which would then jeopardise energy security. 
    In Thursday's note, the IEA was also critical of carbon
capture technologies.      
    "The industry needs to commit to genuinely helping the world
meet its energy needs and climate goals – which means letting go
of the illusion that implausibly large amounts of carbon capture
are the solution," the IEA statement published on its website
said. 
    The UAE, the second Arab country to host the climate summit
after Egypt in 2022, has alongside other Gulf energy producers
called for what they consider a more realistic energy transition
in which fossil fuels would keep a role in securing energy
supplies while industries decarbonise.
    Al Ghais said it was regrettable the IEA called technologies
such as carbon capture utilization and storage (CCUS) an
"illusion", as they were seen in U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on
Climate Change reports as part of the solution. 
    "The truth that needs to be spoken is simple and clear to
those who wish to see it. It is that the energy challenges
before us are enormous and complex and cannot be limited to one
binary question," Al Ghais said. 
    OPEC+, which groups OPEC and allies such as Russia, decided
last year it would stop using data from the IEA when assessing
the state of the oil market. 
    Saudi Arabia has also blamed the IEA - and its initial
prediction for a 3 million barrel per day (bpd) fall in Russian
production on the back of the war in Ukraine - for Washington's
decision to sell oil from its reserves. 

 (Reporting by Maha El Dahan
Editing by Mark Potter)
 ((Maha.Dahan@thomsonreuters.com, @mahaeldahan;))