It is necessary to continue investing in new oil fields “if we want to prevent prices from exploding,” he explained.
Patrick Pouyanné in La Défense, May 28, 2021. (AFP / CHRISTOPHE ARCHAMBAULT)
The demand for oil will continue to increase to reach a peak “somewhere between 2030 and 2040”, estimated Friday October 11, CEO of TotalEnergies Patrick Pouyanné. The French giant will continue its activity in hydrocarbons while ramping up other energy sources, gas and renewables, he assured.
“For now
demand is still increasing
1% per year”
he declared to the
Echoes
emphasizing that the driving force behind this increase in global demand in recent years was China. “This is not going to continue,” he continued. “Peak oil will arrive one day, probably somewhere between 2030 and 2040.”
According to him, it is still necessary to continue investing in new oil fields “if we want to prevent prices from exploding.” “Mechanically, every year, at the global level,
there is a natural decline in oil field production of 4-5%
. If we do not invest, a barrel will not reach $100, prices will rise to the ceiling,” he explained.
A transition at an “acceptable” pace
According to him, oil groups are “already investing significantly less in the exploration and production of oil and gas with the energy transition”, with 500 billion investments today compared to 700 billion in 2015.
“The day we see a real drop in demand, the simple solution will be to invest less to adapt thanks to the natural decline because
this transition must happen at the pace at which societies are ready to accept it
“, he says, in unison with the oil sector.
“Societies primarily need cheap energy
we must therefore evolve gradually,” he believes.
However, TotalEnergies intends to accelerate on gas and renewables, which represent the future, according to Patrick Pouyanné. “If oil was the great energy of the last century,
gas and carbon-free electricity are at the heart of the energy system of tomorrow.
“However,” he said, “it will necessarily be more expensive.”
“Wind and solar are intermittent energies. They must be combined with nuclear, gas, batteries, networks… We must therefore look at the entire costs of the electricity chain.
The more we use intermittent renewables, the more we ‘complexify’ the energy system
“, he explains.
