The development and deployment of viable alternatives
to fossil fuels "does remain an open question," Saudi Aramco Chief
Executive Khalid Al-Falih said Tuesday.
Speaking at an IHS CERA conference in
Houston
,
Al-Falih said that oil still underpins the global economy and is likely to
remain at the core of the world's energy needs in the future. The conference,
known as CERAWeek, reunites some of the world's top oil and gas executives.
"Global demand for petroleum will recover very
strongly" as population and living standards grow, the executive said.
Al-Falih said
Saudi Arabia
is committed to maintaining 1.5 milion barrels of oil a day of spare production
capacity. The kingdom, which recently underwent a big expansion of its oil
output, currently has a spare capacity of 4 million barrels a day.
"We believe it's helping markets to be
steady," Al-Falih said.
The
executive said Saudi Aramco was not slowing down over the next five years, and
will invest over 90 billion dollars during that period.