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 As COP28 considers phase-out of oil and gas, Arab OPEC ministers convene in Doha.

December 11, DOHA (Reuters) - As nations battle at the UN's COP28 climate summit over a potential agreement to phase-out fossil fuels, OPEC's top Arab energy ministers arrived in Doha on Monday for the 12th Arab Energy Conference.

In a letter dated December 6 that was seen by Reuters, OPEC Secretary General Haitham Al Ghais pleaded with the organization's members to oppose any COP28 agreement that targets fossil fuels rather than emissions.

Approximately 80% of the world's proven oil reserves are held by members of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), the majority of which are in the Middle East.

Since oil revenue constitutes the primary source of income for most of those countries, every message emanating from COP28 geared at curbing the demand for oil and gas becomes a matter of survival.

Along with Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, who had been in Dubai for the United Nations climate summit, other ministers from Iraq, Kuwait, Algeria, Libya, and non-OPEC member Oman also attended for the energy meeting.

Suhail Mohamed Al Mazrouei, the energy minister of the United Arab Emirates, was not present.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE), an OPEC member and the second Arab nation to host the climate summit after Egypt in 2022, has urged for what it views as a more realistic energy transition, one in which fossil fuels continue to play a role in maintaining the energy supply while businesses decarbonise.

As president of COP28 and the head of the state oil company ADNOC in the United Arab Emirates, Sultan Al Jaber has insisted that a phase-down of fossil fuels is both necessary and inevitable, but only as part of a transition that takes into consideration the unique circumstances of each nation and area.

According to observers following the negotiations, a number of nations, including Saudi Arabia, the de facto leader of OPEC, and Russia, a key ally, are demanding that the COP28 summit in Dubai focus on emissions rather than the fossil fuels that cause them.

Even while many questioned whether such expenditures would be feasible, Qatar, which exited OPEC in 2018 but whose views are generally in line with those of other countries that produce gas and oil, claimed to have invested tens of billions of dollars in its LNG business.

Head of Qatar's state-run energy business Saad al-Kaabi told the conference, "A realistic understanding of market fundamentals and efforts to reduce global carbon emissions was our basis for decision-making at the time."

TIMER OUT

A minimum of eighty countries, comprising the US, the EU, and other impoverished, climate-vulnerable states, are requesting that a COP28 agreement explicitly state that the use of fossil fuels must eventually come to an end.

Oil Minister Saad Al Barrak said, "Kuwait works according to a policy based on preserving the sources of petroleum wealth and their optimal exploitation and development," noting that oil was the main energy source for both Kuwait and the rest of the globe.

Similar to Kaabi, Barrak stressed the value of making investments to boost the output of energy resources derived from fossil fuels.

At U.N. climate summits, agreements must be approved by the approximately 200 participating nations by consensus. The summits seek to reach a global agreement on the next steps to combat climate change, but it is up to each nation to make sure these efforts are taken through national investments and legislation.

December 12 is the end day of both COP28 and the two-day 12th Arab Energy Conference.

Source reuters.com