We're running out of fossil fuels? Supply can't meet demand? We must come up with an alternative? Abdalla Jum'ah, president and chief executive officer of Saudi Aramco, scoffs at the industry's veritable wringing of its hands. "Some parties advocate a transition from fossil fuels to alternative fuels," he said at the Cambridge Energy Research Associates conference in Houston recently. "As alternatives become viable, they can take over. However, that day is not today, nor will it be tomorrow. We must rely on fossil fuels to meet our energy needs, or, as they say in Texas, 'You've got to dance with the one that brung you.'" When asked if he can see Saudi Aramco producing 15 million barrels of oil per day in the future, or even 20 million, Jum'ah didn't blink. He responded, "For the right price." Jum'ah said alternative energies still have many unresolved issues associated with them, and because the oil and gas industry affects the well-being of the entire world, it is the industry's job to avoid creating economic overhangs caused by unfounded reactions and misguided analyses. "Alarming forecasts of the future of energy supplies are wrong. Vast resources still remain-an estimated 7 trillion barrels of nonconventional assets," he said. "The U.S. Department of Energy expects fossil fuels to remain the dominant energy source for the foreseeable future, while the share of alternative resources and renewable is forecast to fall. The key is to phase in a realistic alternative while developing cleaner and more efficient fossil-fuel technology." Jum'ah also stressed the importance Middle East relations have to the future of energy. "We need to acknowledge that a peaceful and secure Middle East will lead to a secure supply of energy in the future. Peace efforts in that region are more important than ever. Policies that discriminate against oil should be done away with as well." Jum'ah believes Saudi Aramco has a commitment to the world to keep production rates above the world's demand. "Saudi Aramco can maintain its production rates for another half a century. We will maintain our surplus capacity, which has played a big part in market stability," he said. "But our challenge doesn't end once the oil is out of the ground. There must also be a corresponding expansion in refining capacity and it will have to be able to accommodate heavy, sour crudes."
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