Need for People at Forefront of Energy Policies and Priorities: Al-Kaabi

His Excellency the Minister of State for Energy Affairs, Saad Sherida al-Kaabi has asserted the need to have people at the forefront of energy policies and priorities.

Speaking at the opening panel discussion at the Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition & Conference (ADIPEC), Minister al-Kaabi said, “all our partners and colleagues in the room know that, we in Qatar, have had the same policy and view on how we see the business, how we see the transition, how we see the need for oil and gas for the future, and that has not changed.

“We have announced that we cannot reach net-zero because we don’t think it is achievable.”

Minister al-Kaabi stressed that energy should not be politicised, nor should be subject to changing politics.

He said: “Unfortunately, a small part of this conference has changed with politics, and I think they are not looking at facts and realities. We shouldn't be following politics when we look at the lives of people for the future and how much energy we need for the future.”

Speaking on regulations and trade barriers, Minister al-Kaabi reaffirmed Qatar’s opposition to Europe’s excessive regulations that will impose 5% of global turnover of companies that violate their planned Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD).

“We have announced very clearly, and I have spoken on several occasions, that if Europe does not look at how they can water down or cancel the CSDDD and still have a penalty of 5% of our total world turnover as a penalty, we will not be delivering LNG to Europe, for sure,” he noted.

Minister al-Kaabi concluded his remarks by affirming that this is not just about oil and gas but rather affects any company doing business in Europe like Toyota (for example) can be impacted while delivering cars; this is why it is very important that Europe looks at this very seriously.

The Minister was speaking during a session entitled: “Energy Realities: Securing the future in an uncertain world” with participation from Suhail al-Mazrouei, Minister of Energy & Industry of the United Arab Emirates, and Karim Badawi, the Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources of Egypt.