The “Bosphorus Summit,” organized by the International Cooperation Platform (ICP), opened its doors on Nov. 28 under the patronage of the Turkish presidency. During the summit held in Istanbul, 176 speakers across 37 panels will be presenting solutions for global and regional problems under the theme of “The New Challenge of Globalization.” Yeni Şafak is a bronze sponsor of the three-day summit and is attended by 76 countries with a total trade volume of $3.3 trillion. Many bilateral talks are being held on the sidelines of the summit.
One of the intriguing titles from the second day of the summit was “The end of the petrol era.” Experts discussing the future of petrol agreed on the situation of petroleum in the near future, but left question marks regarding its future.
Among those who were on the panel discussing “The end of the petrol era” was Akito Matsumoto, a senior economist in the Commodities Unit in the IMF's Research Department. Matsumoto pointed out that petrol’s role will decrease in the future and that coal would be the type of energy that would incur the most losses in the future.
Matsumoto said natural gas would be bolstered, and that petrol’s role in the future would be determined after 2040. Matsumoto also said that because it is cheaper than petrol, there will be a transition to renewable energy and that the future of petroleum depends on economic growth, policy and technology.
Matsumoto also said that because it is cheaper than petrol, there will be a transition to renewable energy, and that the future of petrol depends on economic growth, policy and technology.
Qatar Petroleum's former CEO Nasser Al-Jaidah said that oil demand will not end soon but rather increase. Al-Jaidah said it was futile to discuss the end of petrol when 96 billion barrels were used per day.
Fatih Birol, executive director of the International Energy Agency, said that the demand for natural gas and solar energy would increase and that the future of these two energy classes was bright.
Birol also said that there would be a boost in natural gas, especially liquefied natural gas (LNG), adding that the cost of solar energy will gradually decrease.
Gulmira Rzayeva, research associate at the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies, said oil would not shift out of the picture for at least another 30 years. “We need to look at the preferences of the countries concerned with the future of petroleum. Especially China. China's gas production is steadily declining because of its price, as it does not stimulate investment. This means that China will use more oil in the future,” she said.
Rzayeva pointed out that the Turkish government's energy policies have changed and that the new energy policy is very successful. “With projects such as TANAP [Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline Project], it is expected that Turkey will become a natural gas trade center in the future,” she said.
"Oil prices are at their peak, there is no problem in supply, but there is a decline in demand. The demand for shale petrol is rising, and this is causing a drop in prices faster than we anticipated," said Qamar Energy CEO Robin Mills.
Mills added that it was futile to debate whether the era of petrol was coming to an end when the demand for petrol had risen to 1.8 million barrels, stating that technological advancements would surprise nations and so OECD countries should be prepared.
