Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, the Minister of State for Energy Affairs, the President and CEO of QatarEnergy, stressed the importance of a realistic energy transition that utilizes a diverse and balanced energy mix that takes into consideration each country’s economic growth plans, energy requirements, and environmental targets.

Speaking at the opening Ministerial Plenary Session of the India Energy Week 2025 in New Delhi, Al-Kaabi said: “Energy poverty is a serious issue in the world, where over a billion people have no access to basic power. In addition, we are going to have an additional 1.5 to 2 billion people on our planet by 2050. On top of that, the global middle class is expanding. All of this results in an incremental demand for energy that we have to cater for.”

“Therefore”, Minister Al-Kaabi added, “we need more power, we need oil, we need gas, and we need more renewables to get a resilient energy mix for the long term. We need all resources on deck.”

Al-Kaabi stressed the importance of continued investments in the oil and gas sector to help meet the world’s increasing energy demand and to avoid volatility in energy prices that result from supply shocks. “Demonizing energy producers does not help in solving our environmental problem, nor does it help in securing affordable energy supplies”, Al-Kaabi added.

Also taking part in the Ministerial panel were Hardeep Singh Puri, the Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas of India, Doto Mashaka Biteko, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Energy of Tanzania, and the Ed Miliband, Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero of the United Kingdom.