Photo: Alberto Pizzoli Agence France-Presse
Peak oil will be reached in the course of this decade probably, according to Jean-Marie Dauger.
Even if the efforts to lay the foundations for a low carbon future can be variable from one country to another, the movement is extremely powerful, “observes the president of the world energy Council, Jean-Marie Dauger, according to which it” is exercised even in countries that are producers of oil.
“We held our last congress in Abu Dhabi [in 2019]. And I was surprised to see all the ministers in saudi arabia, the Emirates, etc, talking about the post-oil for their country. This is a topic to which nobody can escape, ” said Mr. Dauger Wednesday during a virtual conversation with the p.-d. g. Hydro-Québec, Sophie Brochu, organized for the members of the Conseil des relations internationales de Montréal (CORIM).
Born at the beginning of the Twentieth century, the world energy Council aims to be a forum of analysis is impartial in covering the various sources produced and consumed in the world, both the hydrocarbons of renewable energies, such as solar, hydro, bioenergy and wind power.
For the oil companies, there is ” a real challenge “, said Mr. Dauger, in office since last year. “Peak oil will be reached in the course of this decade probably. And the order of the day climate, if I may dare to say, moved permanently, it seems to me it. “
But there is a “paradox” through it all. “It is as if oil companies have any interest in getting involved in the décarbonation, including their own uses, and, in particular, to invest, to me it seems, in the techniques of storage and extraction of the CO2 to ensure a future, at the same time, with all the scenarios that one can make, the oil, and the hydrocarbons in general, still covers nearly two-thirds of the needs by the year 2040, or even 2050. So the oil is there for a long time. “
In the shorter term, however, the future holds many unknowns, obvious consequence of the crisis of the COVID-19 that seems to be on track to reduce the consumption of crude oil by 2020 to levels of 2012, according to recent forecasts from the international energy Agency. In April alone, there was question of a return far enough in time, 1995 to be more precise.
The crisis, which affects both the government and the people and the companies, brings a lot of questions. What place will the energy transition in the recovery plans ? The companies will then be in a position to adequately fund the projects that were on the table ? “Even before the crisis, the investment needs were considerable,” said Mr. Dauger.
According to the president of the CME, it also seems that the ” weight of the problematic of resilience is going to be rather increased in all of the strategic thinking on energy. “This concern of the résiliences, the resilience of our economic systems and energy, will rather push them to an acceleration of what is called the transition energy. “But there is a doubt, nuance-t-il. “It basically comes from the ability of governments and businesses to support investment needs. But of all the crises are born of opportunities. And the difficulty that one has when one is in the middle of the storm, it is to determine what are the avenues that are open and those that do open more. “