ADNOC CEO says vaccination campaigns helping 'healthy rebalancing' of oil market

London — The ramp-up in coronavirus vaccination rates around the world is "very much encouraging" for global economic growth and the recovery in oil demand, Sultan al-Jaber, the CEO of Abu Dhabi National Oil Co., said May 20.

"The economic landscape is looking quite positive," he said at the Columbia Global Energy Summit, which was webcast. "We are seeing a healthy rebalancing of oil markets. Demand is back up to 95 million b/d."

Pre-pandemic global demand levels stood around 100 million b/d, a level OPEC expects will not be reached this year.

ADNOC pumps the vast majority of crude in the UAE, which holds the seventh-largest oil reserves in the world.

The UAE as a whole produced 2.61 million b/d in April, in line with its quota under a supply accord between OPEC and its allies.

Jaber, who is also the UAE's minister of industry and its special envoy for climate change, said ADNOC's long-term forecast sees global oil demand increasing to 106 million b/d by 2030.

An industry-wide pullback in upstream investment due to oil price volatility and mounting environmental, social and governance concerns, will leave low-cost -- and low-carbon -- oil producers, such as ADNOC, in an advantaged position, Jaber said.

ADNOC has previously announced plans to invest $120 billion over the next five years, with the aim of hitting a production capacity of 5 million b/d by 2030, and has touted its flagship Murban crude grade as having one of the lowest carbon intensities among the world's crudes.

"The energy transition is exactly that, a transition," he said. "Oil and gas will continue to play a role alongside the diversifying energy mix."

The International Energy Agency on May 18 warned that no new investments in oil and gas fields should be made if the world is to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.

Jaber did not address the report but highlighted the UAE's commitments to renewables, blue and green hydrogen, nuclear power and carbon capture, noting that the country has submitted to the UN its plan to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 23.5% by 2030 under the Paris climate accord.

The minister will be representing the UAE at the next UN climate talks in Glasgow in November and said he hopes nations will recognize that developing economies should not be held to as stringent emissions targets.

UN climate negotiators should "customize our approach for different regions" to achieve the right balance between global economic development and environmental sustainability, he said.