New strategies are needed for the future of the energy sector, Seyed Mohammad Hossein Adeli, secretary-general of Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF), said on Thursday.
"It is true that the dynamics of the energy market are with no doubt reshaping the global architecture of the market and we are in the transitional period. Thus, you should try to opt for a new strategy for the future," Adeli said in Istanbul.
Adeli's remarks came during his address at a plenary session at the 22nd World Petroleum Congress, the largest meeting of the oil and gas industry in Istanbul, of which Anadolu Agency is the global communication partner.
He said that new strategic thinking is needed in the coming years to cover energy demand arising from increases in population and in the global economy.
"Therefore, the core question is how we develop an energy strategy that could satisfy this huge needs and requirements," he said.
Such energy strategies would need to address the following five considerations:
1. Firstly, it should safeguard security of supply and energy demand flow.
2. It should also address climate change concerns like pollution and air quality issues.
3. It should consider multiple sources of supply through diversification.
4. Sources should be sustainable, relatively accessible and affordable.
5. It should be a global-wide solution.
Also addressing the session, Peter Coleman, chief executive officer of Australian oil and gas company Woodside, said that changes in the global energy market are needed to address strategies for the new reality in the energy sector.
Coleman added that oil and gas market dynamics are shifting "quite rapidly" while some interesting investments in the supply and demand side have shaped the business environment.
Coleman referred to four strategies for a new reality, "Firstly, we need to acknowledge the rise of renewables. We just need to accept rather than deny it."
He said there needs to be a "more sophisticated and flexible" attitude in contracting and marketing to deal with a more fluid market place.
Coleman said that appealing to new customers for conventional uses of their product and proactively market new uses is also desirable.
"Fourthly, we need to think about how we finance projects focusing on development," Coleman said, adding that he specified technology as a fifth element, which will be critical for the future.
