OPEC Ministers Say More Oil Needed, Dig At Energy Transition Economics

MoneyOPEC Ministers Say More Oil Needed, Dig At Energy Transition EconomicsByGaurav Sharma, Senior Contributor

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Gaurav Sharma is a London-based analyst who covers energy & ESG

AuthorJul 09, 2025, 03:19pm EDTJul 09, 2025, 06:15pm EDTOPEC logo at the its headquarters in Vienna, Austria (Photo: Joe Klamar)AFP via Getty Images Leading ministers from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries or “OPEC” said the world needs more oil to meet its growing energy foot at their biennial international seminar in Vienna, Austria on Wednesday

The 9th installment of the OPEC International Seminar saw the Saudi energy minister and de facto leader of the ducers’ group Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman warn against hurting global economic growth and consumer “affordability” in the name of energy transition, multiple attendees told this correspondent

The minister added that while renewable energy sources continue to grow, oil and gas will remain “indispensable” in supporting the economic gress of countries, and ensuring the steady output of mission critical hard-to-abate sectors heavy industry, aviation and haulage

Prince Abdulaziz said that many nations around the world were rapidly coming around to the realization that hydrocarbons were critical for ensuring their energy security

Additionally, the Saudi Gazette reported that the minister emphasized Riyadh is ing a consistent and coherent apach that balances vision and transition implementation. "Sustainability must be understood more comprehensively to include economic and commercial dimensions, not just environmental ones," he noted

Third-party citations and attendee relays were needed after OPEC withheld media access to the major industry event from a number of organizations, according to three people familiar with the matter

Those restricted include major global newswires

Instead, OPEC has opted to restrict access to a handful of “media partners” and selected market data aggregators

MORE FOR YOU s to the OPEC media office for event accreditation queries went unanswered, and a spokesperson at the venue said they were instructed to tell "non-partner" media requesting access "that the venue was full. " The incident marks a repeat of what happened in 2023 when the seminar was last held although the list of media organization banned this time around appears to be longer than two years ago

Away from the seminar halls, United Arab Emirates energy minister Suhail Al Mazrouei said the oil market was thirsty for more, and has so far lapped up every increase in duction OPEC has thrown its way

The action, which took the market by surprise, ed three consecutive output hikes of 411,000 bpd announced by OPEC+ in recent months

On the sidelines of the seminar, Reuters - another media organization that had its access withheld - reported Al Mazrouei as having said: “You can see that even with the increases for several months we haven’t seen a major buildup in inventories, which means the market needed those barrels. “What we want is stability and you cannot be short-sighted just by looking at the price

We need the price to be right for investments to happen. ” Al Mazrouei also said that many countries with large oil reserves were still not enough

Are now pricing in OPEC+ to completely unwind its voluntary cuts starting September when it meets to make a decision next month

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