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the non-Organisation for
Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries
with Asia leading with the highest rate.
He said to meet the
energy demand, oil producing countries would need to
come up with reserves nearly six times the size of Saudi
Arabia to meet the demand. The other non-renewable and
renewable sources of energy are simply too expensive or
not productive to meet the demands, he said.
Dr Doshi elaborated
that the unconventional oil resources such as Oil Sands,
Bitumen and Shale Oil were too costly to produce. "These
resources will not be able meet the demand of global
growth," he said.
He added that the
Middle East will remain as the key source of cheap oil.
Due to rising global demand, around US$26 trillion must
be invested in the oil and gas industry by 2030 with an
average investment of US$1 trillion yearly. The amount
is needed to identify new potential resources, newer and
cheaper innovation and extraction technology and more.
However, he said, with the current global financial
crisis, the investment into the oil and gas industry was
expected to weaken until the global economy recovers.
There are geopolitical
risks to look into which may affect overall output
forecasts and cause volatility in the oil prices such as
the recent fluctuation despite Opec cutting down the
output, he said.
In defining energy
security, he cited, that "loss of economic welfare that
may occur as a result of the price and volume of
available energy."
The focus, he said, is
to define economical costs rather than the actual
availability of oil. Bio-diesel and ethanol do not
promise an end to oil demand unless an economical and
viable way of producing them can be found, he said.
When asked about the
future of renewable energy resources, he said, there was
currently limited understanding on the particular
subject and so far, there was no substitute to oil and
gas, which is much cheaper. However, he said, the
nuclear energy has the potential.
The public lecture
entitled "Energy security: Middle East, Asia and the
current financial crisis" was hosted by the Faculty of
Business, economics and policy studies and was attended
by academics from the university and other dignitaries.
--
Courtesy of The Brunei Times |
