They estimated the world will have to invest $25 trillion over the next two decades to satisfy energy demand.
“The projected global investment needs to amount to over $25 trillion up to 2030, a huge challenge in a time of unprecedented uncertainty and volatility,” according to a statement from the 12th International Energy Forum.
The ministers from oil producing nations and consumers "affirmed that fossil fuels will still provide the lion's share of the energy supply for decades to come, although renewable energy will have to play an increasing role."
A statement issued at the end of the two-day forum added that all energy sources -- including nuclear and wind power — must be used to meet the projected rise in energy demand in the coming decades.
The latest biennial IEF, held in the beach resort of Cancun, also published a declaration Wednesday in which 66 countries pledged greater cooperation, and called for transparent markets to tackle oil price volatility.
IEF countries — including major oil producer Saudi Arabia and top consumer the United States -- account for more than 90 percent of global oil and gas supply and demand.
Ministers meanwhile noted that more than $25 trillion of investment is needed across the energy sector by 2030.
The head of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries said member countries of his bloc may need to invest between $70 billion and $170 billion in oil output by 2013.
But OPEC Secretary-General Abdalla Salem El Badri said there is an “uncertainty gap” about how much investment will be needed based on economic recovery demand.
“There is a very real possibility of wasting financial resources on unneeded capacity,” El Badri.
In remarks released Wednesday, El Badri said investment by OPEC nations could reach as much as $250 billion by 2020.
El Badri has praised current oil prices, which have remained relatively stable between $70 and $80 a barrel.
But he said price instability has the potential to create “inappropriate conditions for investments.”
The executive director of the International Energy Agency — a body advising key oil consuming countries — said on the sidelines of the IEF that the OPEC needed to step up its investment.
"In a revolutionary scenario of low-carbon technologies, we still need more oil from OPEC," Nobuo Tanaka said.
And he added that the potential for renewable energy usage was "huge." Tanaka predicted that by 2050, 25 percent of energy used to power modes of transport could be supplied by biofuels.
Another key focus of discussion in Mexico was oil price volatility in a bid to prevent a repeat of large swings seen in late 2008.
Oil prices surged to all-time peaks of above $147 a barrel in July 2008 amid supply concerns, before the severe global economic downturn saw them crashing to just $32 in December of that year.
Producers and consumers blame the volatility on financial speculators and a lack of accurate data on nations' oil inventory levels.
British Junior Energy Minister Philip Hunt said in Cancun that oil price volatility had "very negative consequences for the world." "We need stable and efficient energy markets. We need them both in terms of ensuring future investment and development," he said.
"But we also need them in helping the globe as a whole recover from the financial problems that we've seen in the last two years," added Hunt, representing IEF executive board member Britain.
OPEC, whose member nations together pump about 40 percent of the world's oil, blames speculators for pushing crude futures to record highs nearly two years ago.
IEA head Tanaka meanwhile said that while speculators played a role in creating excessive oil price volatility, major energy consumers such as China did not help matters by failing to provide transparent data on their oil stockpiles.
