Aramco's warning of a world without oil: energy shortages, runaway inflation and social unrest

Amin Nasser, the CEO of Aramco, the world's largest oil company owned by Saudi Arabia, has called on world leaders not to rush to phase out fossil fuels. "The transition to clean energy is having major failures," he said at the World Petroleum Congress in Texas. He considers it necessary to resume investments in gas and oil.

"I understand that admitting publicly that gas and oil are going to play an essential role in the ecological transition will be very difficult," he said at the WPC forum, which brings together the top executives of the oil sector, but "assuming this reality is better than facing insecurity of supply, uncontrolled inflation and social revolts due to unaffordable energy prices.

He said that "zero emissions commitments are beginning to crumble". These comments come amid growing concern over high energy prices in many countries and pressure for oil companies to shift their investments to the green economy. The International Energy Agency earlier this year said energy companies must halt all new oil and gas exploration projects if the world is to achieve zero emissions by 2050.

"The world is facing an increasingly chaotic energy transition centered on very unrealistic assumptions and scenarios about the future of energy," Nasser said. "In private, most politicians and business people share the view that there is a danger of serious consequences of underinvestment," he said. "They should say so publicly.