It shall have a response by us very soon in this field. So Algeria, in the light of its energy policies currently, is in stage or different phases of preparation.
So now we are preparing for the B round 2026 phase seven petroleum establishment, and we will be able to reach the final bidding process, all towards increasing the gas and petroleum production as well as enhancing our national petroleum production capabilities, and also increased demand that we're witnessing in Europe, specifically with respect to natural gas. Thank you.
How do you in Nigeria look at the recent events, and does it really, in your opinion, change how producers and buyers think about energy security?
Well, thank you very much. You know, first of all, let me say that Nigeria, you know, is in solidarity with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia over the recent, you know, attacks on Saudi Arabia. But when the attacks, you know, were heard, you know, some of us felt that okay, maybe we'll not be able to come. But the president of Nigeria directed that go to Saudi Arabia to show to the world that, you know, we are in solidarity with Saudi Arabia. And thank God we came. We've seen that Saudi Arabia is peaceful, safe, you know, apart from the few attacks that, you know, happened around the airport. Having said that, let me say that the consensus from yesterday till today is that the world is going through energy, you know, crisis because of what is going on here, and it's everybody's problem. Energy in Saudi Arabia, it is same energy in New York, the same energy in Nigeria. And so all of us have to come together, you know, under forum like this to be able to discuss, you know, pathways, you know, to ensuring that, you know, we address the issue of energy, you know, availability and affordability, you know, globally.
In Nigeria, you know, a few years ago we were basically importing everything. We export crude, we import 100% of, you know, refined product. But today we are not, you know, importing. Maybe import 10%, but we export, you know, our crude. We also sell our crude to Dangote refinery that has capacity now to even supply Europe. We have some excess capacity in terms of jet fuel, and then Dangote was even able to, you know, send some jet fuel to Europe. So Nigeria and indeed Africa is ready to, you know, contribute its own quota to the global energy, you know, needs as a continent. And I believe that, you know, what we need is this kind of collaboration. We need investments, you know, in upstream, in midstream, and also, you know, downstream.
I'll come back to you in round two around how you can attract these investments, but I'll move to Mr. Secretary General. Despite the scale of the disruptions, oil prices have not reached what some have spoken about, $200. We haven't reached that. What do you think has prevented that major spike in the last few months, despite what some have feared?
Well, thank you first of all, Nasser. That's a very good question. Let me start also by reiterating our, first of all, condolences to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on the loss of innocent lives that has occurred here in the last few days. And thank you, Your Royal Highness, and your colleagues in the ministry for bringing everybody together here despite the circumstances, and the organizers at the WPC for setting up such a fabulous stage.
Well, Nasser, you know our policy, we don't talk about prices, but I think it's important to shed light to everybody and explain why the markets have been the way they are. And you asked earlier speakers about energy security. And I think in this country here, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, we have the best example of providing an insurance policy for energy security, which is what His Highness mentioned earlier on in his remarks, the East-West pipeline. The East-West pipeline has been there for many years, but nobody used to talk about it. Nobody mentioned it. People hardly knew that it existed until crunch time came about, and we saw how it became very handy and very useful. I think this is a classic example of countries preparing for future events, putting, as they say, an insurance policy.
We all put insurance policies on our cars because we think we may get into an accident. Here we're dealing with something much more delicate, much more important to global energy security, which is supplies of oil. And yes, oil and gas, but I think oil still is the predominant or the dominant share in the energy mix at over 30% of global energy. And I think this country, Saudi Arabia, has proven an example to be an example of how countries should prepare for future eventualities and how countries have put an insurance policy in place. I think the market has also adjusted in many other ways. There has been a reduction in Chinese oil imports as well due to the stockpiling that had occurred earlier on. Releases of SPR in many countries around the world, especially in OECD countries. A slowdown, I would say, in demand. At OPEC, we have revised our demand figure forecast for this year down from the beginning of the year in tandem with the events and the unfolding of events.
Three downgrades, last few, three or four downgrades in the past few weeks.
Correct. We are now seeing demand growth this year at 400,000 barrels a day versus in the beginning of the year we had it at 1.4 million barrels a day. However, this demand, to be fair, has been deferred to 2027, where we believe there will be pent-up demand next year. We have it now at a level of 1.7 million barrels a day growth for 2027. So all of those factors, and I think the importance of having the insurance policies, as we explained just now, for example, the case of the East-West pipeline, have really helped control the market, if I put it in that way, to answer your question, Nasser.
Your Highness, let's talk about hydrocarbons and net zero, because the net zero agenda seems to have become more pragmatic in the last couple of years. Do you think recent events can change that calculus? Will energy security nowadays reinforce long-term investments in hydrocarbons, or will it give more urgency to the decarbonization net zero agenda once again?
Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman
8:04 ↗
You know, I think it's mixed. You know, we just heard from our friend, the German minister, how pragmatic Germany is becoming. So as Karim talked about it also, I think it all depends on which country you're talking about. But it's so funny, to be honest, that you have a country buying diesel from the US, desperate to find more of it, and yet they are going to close their last refinery this year. That shows how contradictory it is. But it shows that there are people who have a dogma or kind of a religion of making sure that whatever they do, they shall continue to play their role in net zero. But look at what happened to them. Costs of electricity is high. Cost of fuel are high. Cost of everything. Cost of everything became higher as a result of all of that. Now, we believe, and we are, you know, going to be participating with our friends from Turkey on the Cup. I think we are, you know, in some way or another, our narrative is taking off, which is it's not about this religion of net zero. It's about how can you accommodate between many of these things: energy security, sustainability, and affordability. Because if you don't look at the other two, you stand a better chance of a mishap and a misstep, and energy will become even costlier and will cost you more to develop it and to do the catching up. Or you will circumvent this obsession of net zero to a much more accommodating approach.
I think it's, you know, when we talk like this in OPEC or any of our colleagues, you get the feeling that there is a taboo in making your statement. As so many of my friends here know me, I'm too spontaneous. So there was an occasion when a journalist asked me after one of those OPEC meetings, virtual meetings, she asked me about net zero, and I said then, and I will repeat it now, that it's a net zero scenario created by the IEA. It's one of those things that was a self-fulfilling prophecy. So I believe the trend is people are becoming more accommodating to create that balance. And you're talking to a country that we are establishing records when it comes to renewable and batteries and what have you. And we are competitive when it comes to cost. And our ambition is to even build more to take care of our future demand, including AI demand, because we want to make sure that also we have a case to demonstrate to the people, the world, that we could be the incubator of so many of these technologies, emanating from the fact that we have an approach and a system that allows us to control our cost to serve with regard to electricity. But as I said, as a trend, I think people are becoming more realistic, and this realism is emanating from high cost and the political cost of continuing with this endeavor without being mindful to the cost of the population and the household. We can see some of those political costs here and there in elections in certain countries already.
Your Highness, Minister Arkab, I want to talk about gas and Algeria satisfying the European gas security. How much realistically Algeria can bring gas into Europe, and what are the main constraints? Is it production? Is it the investment, infrastructure, or maybe is it domestic demand inside Algeria?
Because we are the main exporter for Europe from the natural gas. My country, Algeria, has started at the beginning with setting the laws that regulate all the ecosystems in Algeria for fuel. The law of 2019 is a new, flexible law that sets the basic frameworks for the fuel and also for recruiting partners to invest in Algeria, because the energy security starts with investment, and if there is no investment, then there will be a problem, because the infrastructure is existing in Algeria, and we are about to scale and expand it. Algeria, up till now, we are invested at a percentage of 47% of the minerals of Algeria. There are still a lot of scales in Algeria for investment, especially in natural gas. So the first step was the law that allows flexibility and incentives for our partners. The other point is the stability for every law. We have to provide a long-term vision for the investors in order for the investment to be successful. In this light, we have set a different mechanism in this law, especially through the governmental decisions that take in consideration development and different mechanisms we place in Algeria in order to give a long-term vision for the investors, as well as when we have the gas pipelines that's across the deserts that we are about to establish. The stage we reached now that we have completed all the studies and we have also set the feasibility studies, and we started performing the Algerian part of these pipes. We are cooperating with Nigeria and Niger in order to start the project. We have started the first phases in Niger. Later, after the completion of this project, we will have the first quantity of 20 million cubic meters of gas to Europe. All of these accomplishments contribute to the security of energy in Algeria as well as extending it to our partners in Europe. We are ready for the bid round 2026 to open more floor for Algeria to invest in the field of gas, also in accelerating the production that will be reflected in a worldwide dimension for energy in Europe. Also, the programs we have planned in Algeria to produce 300 to 3,200 of solar panels. We have started in 2024, and by 2026 we will handle all the control lights stations. This will lead us to avoid a lot of natural gas that we can provide for domestic and international markets.
