RIYADH, 20 January 2008 — US Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman said yesterday that oil-producing countries, including Saudi Arabia, the top supplier, should increase their output to meet the rising energy demand. “I think it is possible for an increase in supply over a period of time because there is adequate reserve in the Kingdom,” he told newsmen, adding that such a move would gradually ease the problem.
“In my judgment, the new energy reality means the world must develop safe, reliable ,clean, affordable and diverse energy supplies,” he said, stressing that the world needs a more diverse group of energy suppliers and a more diverse network of energy supply routes.
Bodman met his counterpart Ali Al-Naimi yesterday. Prior to his meeting with newsmen, Bodman also addressed the business leaders in the city.
Ambassador to the United States, Ford Fraker was also present at the press briefing held at a city hotel, following Bodman’s meeting with the businessmen in the capital. The secretary was on his second leg of his tour in the region following his visit to Jordan , where he met with Jordanian Prime Minister Nader Al-Dahabi and discussed energy cooperation between the two countries. Bodman is slated to visit the UAE, Qatar, Egypt and Switzerland where he will attend the World Economic Forum in Davos.
Quoting the recent World Energy Outlook, Bodman said the world’s primary energy needs will grow by 55 percent by 2030. “ This alone creates for the world a set of energy challenges that require the active involvement of energy producer and consumer countries. And no one nation or a sector can meet them alone.
The IEA said around $22 trillion of investment is required between now and 2030 if the world is to meet the expected demand for energy. That investment must be global, in developed and developing nations alike and at all stages of the energy.
