Andy Brown, executive chairman (CEO) of Galp, said in a panel at the Web Summit on Thursday that the world is entering a period when “cheap energy will cease to exist.”
“I think we are entering a period where cheap energy will cease to exist. There will be huge changes in our consumption patterns and the way we use energy, and we will have to get used to the immense volatility”said Brown on the panel ‘Energy in Europe: What’s Next?’.
According to the CEO of the oil company, the current price of energy is due to “both underinvestment and the war in Ukraine”.
“The price of energy was higher before the war than it is now, the price of gas was higher at the end of last year than it is now, so you have to look at that whole spectrum”said Andy Brown.
One of the reasons for these proceedings, according to the manager, is that energy-producing companies are being directed towards an alternative without investment in oil and gas, but “the alternative is not willing to dominate”.
Galp’s CEO referred to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, which estimates an investment of $125 billion by 2050.
“It’s between three and four billion a year, that’s double what we’re investing today, and if you’re going to invest twice as much, energy costs twice as much.”estimated.
One of the solutions is to strengthen the capital of companies so that they can re-invest in these productions – and this requires cooperation from governments.
“What we need to do is, for example, and we have a refinery here [Sines], we have to transform it, and for that we have to invest, we have to find a way to strengthen the capital to do that. We need to have governments that regulate and incentivize so that when prices rise, the money generated is not only taxed and distributed, but also allocated to the energy of the future,” he defended.
Andy Brown guarantees Galp sees a future with lower carbon dioxide emissions, but he also warned against current consumption habits, where hydrocarbon-based products are placed as axles to spin on.
“We see that the future will be low-carbon, we know we will have to find technical solutions, but we recognize that people in Portugal continue to live their lives around fossil fuels, so we can’t let go of that responsibility, we have to be part of that responsibility he assured.
Andy Brown was also enthusiastic about green hydrogen, believing that “it will bring many solutions”.
With regard to Brazil’s recently held elections, won by Lula da Silva, who will replace outgoing President Jair Bolsonaro, the company chief does not believe the policy change could affect his activities.
“In my previous work I went to Brazil a lot. I met President Dilma [Rousseff]who was also from the left, we also passed the president [Michel] To fear. We had governments that were left and right, but Congress is more central,” he said.
On his future, Brown left the doors open, saying that “it has yet to be decided”.
“What comes next is yet to be decided. I don’t want to leave the energy sector,” concluded the British manager, adding that it is essential in the coming years to make the right decisions.
Source: DN
