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18:28 GMT
DEAD SEA, Jordan, Oct 23 (KUNA) -- Kuwaiti Minister of Oil Mohammad Al-Busairi said here Sunday the world will face challenges triggered by how to fulfill increasing needs of energy in the next 25 years, given dwindling investments in this sector.
Speaking at a debate on the future of energy, held on the sidelines of the just-concluded World Economic Forum (WEF), the Kuwaiti minister linked a possible hike in global oil production to supply and demand.
During a meeting due in December, OPEC oil ministers are expected to boost oil output ceiling.
Kuwait and Saudi Arabia have recently raised their production in response to supply and demand, he said, adding that Kuwait's average production hit 2.
87 million barrels per day (bpd) in September.
The decision was made to make up for oil shortage caused by Libya's production suspension and to fend off looming oil price rise, he said.
Libya used to produce around 1.5 million bpd.
He called on world countries to increase their daily energy production from 234 million barrels of oil equivalent at present to 353 million barrel of oil equivalent by 2035.
Demand for oil and other energy sources is forecasted to go by 35 percent in the coming 25 years, and oil will remain the main source of energy, the Kuwaiti minister said.
But, he warned that to fulfill mounting world demand for energy more investments are required, thus creating fresh challenges in politics, economy and infrastructure.
On Arab oil production, Al-Busairi distinguished between the size of production and increasing consumption as the Arab world had a population of 346 million souls in 2010, while they consume 10.8 million bpd, making up five percent of world consumption.
Arab demand for oil is the highest, hitting 4.2 percent annually, and the per capital quota of oil is 11 barrels per annum, he noted.
He estimated Arab oil reserves at roughly 683 billion barrels, accounting for 57 percent of world reserves, while Arab oil output is 12.2 million, constituting 30 percent of global supplies.
Owing to growing international demand for oil, the Kuwaiti government has decided to boost its investments in energy by USD 93 billion in the next five years to raise output to 3.5 million bpd by 2015, refined oil to 1.4 million bpd, and production capacity to four million bpd by 2020, the minister pointed out.
In 2004, Kuwait established an investment fund for renewable energy technology with an estimated budget of USD 100 million, and allocated in 2007 an estimated budget of USD 150 million for clean energy research, in collaboration with Saudi Arabia, Al-Busairi said.
He also elaborated on Kuwait's experiment in the applications of solar energy technologies in the Kuwaiti oil sector with a view to using solar cells in power energy generation by means of solar heaters in order to provide oil collection centers with thermal energy.
For his part, MB Petroleum Services Board Chairman Mohammad Al-Barwani said the Middle East and North Africa should use renewable energy in lieu of fossil fuel.
He called for privatizing all energy sectors involving oil, gas and power in the Arab world in order to ensure investment and better fuelling to vital utilities.
Catalyst Company Manager Anis Al-Remawi said lack of an industrial base for energy sources in the Arab world is mainly to blame for very high consumption bills.
He urged Arab countries to hinge upon developed local energy sources, hailing in this respect the Palestinian experiment as 60 percent of Palestinian households use solar heaters.
Speaking to KUNA, Kuwaiti Ambassador in Jordan Hamad Al-Duaij said Kuwait effectively partakes in regional and international events in order to convey its civilized message to other countries.
During this year's World Economic Forum, Kuwait presented its experiment in energy and humanitarian work, he said.
The two-day forum touched upon economic governance, economic crunch in the Arab countries, economic plans and how investors were confident of economic objectives.
Transparency, good governance, and media role in awareness campaigns were discussed as well. (end) ab.bsb.abk.mt KUNA 232128 Oct 11NNNN