A decline in investment in the fuel sector is the root cause of the global ene

Bern: The conflict in Ukraine is not the cause of the current global energy crisis. However, the chief of the world’s leading fuel company, Aramco, blamed the fuel sector’s reduced investment and insufficient options and backup plans as the main reasons. The chief of Aramco, Amin Nasser, strongly criticised the decisions of Western countries at the Schlumberger Digital Forum 2022 in Switzerland. At this time, Nasser castigated that there would be no solution to the global energy crisis by imposing taxes on energy companies and limiting electricity bills.

There has been a massive increase in fuel and electricity rates in the last few months at the international level. This increase has flared inflation and hit many major economies, including the West. At the same time, millions worldwide are also facing a cost-of-living crisis. Subsequently, a slowdown in the global economy was predicted. Western analysts and research groups have been claiming that the Russia-Ukraine conflict was the cause for this.

But the chief of Aramco, a significant company in Saudi Arabia, which is a leading country in fuel production, denied this matter in clear words. Although the conflict in Ukraine has contributed to the worsening of the energy crisis, Aramco chief Nasser made it realise that wrong policies and decisions caused the crisis. He said that dangerous signs had been appearing in the energy policy since the last decade. He further said that if oil and natural gas investment declines, supply may fall short of demand in this sector. Nasser claimed that many people like us were constantly drawing attention to the fact that the general public would have to suffer the severe consequences of this, along with the international economy.

‘Across the industry, upstream CapEx fell by more than 50% between 2014 and last year, from $700 billion to $300 billion, said Nasser. Although there has been a slight increase this year, it has been too little and too late, the chief of Aramco also pointed out. At this time, Nasser blamed that the predictions made regarding the fuel sector were also wrong. He criticised the claims that crude oil-consuming sectors would use alternative fuels and that green energy options would become widely available proved fruitless. Meanwhile, Aramco’s chief also warned that Europe should prepare to face a more freezing and harsh winter this year.