What will be the future of energy? It was the central theme of the Kazenergy Eurosian Forum, an international event held in Astana, Kazakhstan. A meeting in which crucial problems for the future of energy were addressed: the new geography of oil demand, with the economic growth of Asia and the countries of the former Soviet Union which drove the need and the change in resources, with the depletion of reserves which requires the costly search for new deposits.
Last year, the International Energy Agency assumed that in 2013 emerging countries would overtake industrialized nations for the first time. And today the Kazakh Minister for Oil and Gas Uzakbay Karabalin explained that “The Asian continent, including the Middle East, has become a net and massive consumer of oil. However in this situation, Kazakhstan has acknowledged its responsibility towards the international community to ensure a stable energy supply to our partners”.
The depletion of gas and oil reserves also presents new challenges from an environmental point of view and the energy sector cannot look the other way. According to Ivan Sandrea, an analyst at Ernst & Young, oil companies are nonetheless taking steps to solve the social, logistical and environmental problems deriving from the latest developments in the sector, namely drilling in the Arctic, underwater fields and oil sources and unconventional gases.
“The oil industry – underlined Sandrea – is certainly making progress in improving its interaction with the environment and in trying to produce safer hydrocarbons. Although, in an industrial business of this type, there will always be accidents and problems. Overall, the industry's safety statistics on the environment have certainly improved over the years and I expect them to continue to improve."
Companies should use resources to develop environmentally friendly technologies before market changes occur. Thanks to high oil prices, as explained by the vice president of the KazEnergy association Jambulat Sarsenov, one can invest in expensive projects, buy the best tools and learn how to use them. "If prices fall tomorrow - Saresnov then said - the technologies will remain at a standstill".
Therefore, the global fuel industry requires new approaches and new tools to be able to react to a rapidly changing market.
