- Opening address given by HE Haitham Al Ghais, OPEC Secretary General, at the official opening ceremony of Baku Energy Week in Baku, Azerbaijan, on 2 June 2025.
HE Haitham Al Ghais
‘A Gift from God’ is how His Excellency Ilham Aliyev, president of Azerbaijan has described oil and gas resources. It is a statement that will resonate in history for years and decades to come; they are words that truly matter. Not just for producers, but for consumers across the world too who utilize petroleum and petroleum-derived products in a host of everyday ways.
I would like to thank His Excellency Aliyev, not only for these wise words, but also for his continued support for the Declaration of Cooperation (DoC) between OPEC and non-OPEC producers.
Your Excellency, you have shown great leadership over the years, having been a promoter of bringing OPEC and non-OPEC together and a strong advocate of the Declaration since its inception in December 2016, and we thank you for that.
In this, you have been ably supported by my dear friend, His Excellency Parviz Shahbazov, Azerbaijan’s minister of energy, who has been steadfast in his backing for ensuring the DoC continually works towards a balanced and stable market.
Excellencies, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, Petroleum and petroleum-derived products continue to shape our world. They are vital in so many ways.
In this regard, we need to remember that hydrocarbons still make up over 80 percent of today’s global energy mix, as they have since the 1980s, and provide energy for a wide variety of sectors and industries.
Imagine a world where petroleum and its related products did not exist. It would be one where transportation came to a halt, where food production was devastated, where health services were broken, and where economic growth would go into reverse.
Today, the world continues to consume more oil year after year. In fact, last year, the consumption of gas, coal and renewables also reached record levels. The world needs more from all energies, given population expansion in the developing world, urbanization, economic growth and the development of new energy-intensive industries, such as Artificial Intelligence.
Yes, our energy future needs to be one where we reduce emissions, but it also needs to be one that delivers energy security and energy availability for all.
This leads me to three key points:
Firstly, our energy future should not be ideologically driven. It is not a world, like some would have us believe, where renewables and electric vehicles replace hydrocarbons. It is a world that needs consistency in messaging, and not flip-flopping as we have witnessed from some agencies in recent times.
In this regard, we must be realistic about what each energy can offer and ensure that all available technologies are utilized to help reduce emissions.
Secondly, we need to appreciate the needs of all peoples, with billions of people in the developing world still playing energy catch-up.
Future energy pathways must be holistic, inclusive, fair and equitable, and be in accordance with the core UNFCCC principle of common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities. This was underscored at COP29 in Baku in December last year.
As we move from COP29 to COP30 later this year in Brazil, we also need to remember that the objective of the Paris Agreement is to reduce emissions; not replace sources of energy.
And thirdly, we need investments, investments and investments. For oil alone, we see investment requirements of $17.4 trillion out to 2050, or almost $650 billion per year.
It is vital that the necessary investments in all energies and all technologies are made, to help chart appropriate future energy pathways for nations and peoples around the world.
Excellencies, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, Azerbaijan has shown itself to be a leader when it comes to evolving future energy pathways, exhibited clearly in its constructive engagement when hosting COP29 last year and in its continued support of the DoC and sustainable oil market stability.
At OPEC, we look forward to continuing to work with Azerbaijan to help deliver a stable, secure and sustainable energy future for all. A future that requires all efforts to maintain oil market stability, and a future where we work together for the energies of the future.
Just as Azerbaijan has been the cradle of the modern oil industry, it is also the cradle of how an all-energies landscape can evolve: oil, gas, wind, solar and more. It is a path that OPEC and its member countries fully support.
This path is closely aligned with the key themes and objectives of the forthcoming OPEC International Seminar – our flagship event – that will mark its 9th edition on 9-10 July at the Hofburg Palace in Vienna.
We will be honoured to count on the valuable presence of HE Parviz Shahbazov, along with many distinguished friends from Azerbaijan and around the world at our Seminar.
With that, it is a great honour to be here at the opening ceremony of Baku Energy Week, and I wish the organizers and delegates every success with the event.
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