HRH remarks at Future Minerals Forum 2022

[M080-02] · سمو وزير الطاقة (HRH the Minister of Energy) · التوقيت 00:00:38 · HRH remarks at Future Minerals Forum 2022 · 2022-01-12 · مشاهدة عند هذا التوقيت

What is in my mind is to disturb the organization of this session.

[M080-04] · سمو وزير الطاقة (HRH the Minister of Energy) · التوقيت 00:00:50 · HRH remarks at Future Minerals Forum 2022 · 2022-01-12 · مشاهدة عند هذا التوقيت

Hey the host is giving me a thumb-up, so he is another anarchist around, so I have to be transparent as you know, we have been in OPEC Plus, we have been the most transparent international organization ever, so transparency dictates that I would tell our good audience here that somebody had sets from questions, and somebody worked on answers, and I forfeit the questions and the answers, so we will throw it away.

[M080-06] · سمو وزير الطاقة (HRH the Minister of Energy) · التوقيت 00:01:28 · HRH remarks at Future Minerals Forum 2022 · 2022-01-12 · مشاهدة عند هذا التوقيت

There is nothing better than being spontaneous. Spontaneousness to get to their message to people directly, as much as people feel it as being genuine, straight, out of the heart, out of your consciousness, out of your beliefs, people probably most likely would trust you. Now you have asked me about so many things, but I went to say a few words. This event is one of many, as you know, with all what is going on in the world, including what is happening to the virus, this is the ambitious Saudi Arabia, and this is the ambitious hopefully partners of Saudi Arabia. It is very overwhelming to see this number of audience here at this juncture.

[M080-07] · سمو وزير الطاقة (HRH the Minister of Energy) · التوقيت 00:02:28 · HRH remarks at Future Minerals Forum 2022 · 2022-01-12 · مشاهدة عند هذا التوقيت

And it tells you a lot about how people are willing to adventure in coming to Saudi Arabia as a country of hope, and it is a country of energy, but this time around the type of energy is completely different. We have been a serious hydrocarbon producer, and we have aged and matured in that industry, but this time around the type of energy that we are demonstrating is our youth energy. These countries have better energy resource which is a youthful, ambitious, determined, young, I call them cadets of both women and men, that are running with the torch of their, the future to be of Saudi Arabia, be it the vision of 2030, or be it even everything beyond that. They owe it themselves, and they owe it to their own hopefully children when they come.

[M080-09] · سمو وزير الطاقة (HRH the Minister of Energy) · التوقيت 00:04:13 · HRH remarks at Future Minerals Forum 2022 · 2022-01-12 · مشاهدة عند هذا التوقيت

Well, the products, the proof as they say is in the pudding, and we are very conscious of the pudding that we are developing. In our case, we are developing too many goodies and too many puddings. All what you need to do is go around and visually see the city of Riyadh and every other city in Saudi Arabia, and if I can, as you know, English is my second language, but you know the taboo bottle of the antabout has been unleashed, and with that energy comes out and ambition comes out, and therefore to me, this is their true transition. It is the transition of people determined to move from here to somewhere else.

[M080-10] · سمو وزير الطاقة (HRH the Minister of Energy) · التوقيت 00:05:18 · HRH remarks at Future Minerals Forum 2022 · 2022-01-12 · مشاهدة عند هذا التوقيت

We are also being realist, we have bequeathed some successes and some failures, and we are not shy from reaching out to our honesty and saying we have double whammy tasks. One is to rectify what has been happening in the past that we should attend to because if not attended to and left as it is, it would not be an enabling force, but it will be a more of a crippling element, therefore, having to recoup from some of these l mistakes that were taken in the past is a mandatory thing and a priority. The second element would be to see ourselves where we can fit ourselves, given our endowments.

[M080-11] · سمو وزير الطاقة (HRH the Minister of Energy) · التوقيت 00:06:23 · HRH remarks at Future Minerals Forum 2022 · 2022-01-12 · مشاهدة عند هذا التوقيت

Now, this event will focus on a very major endowment of Saudi Arabia, which is minerals, and it could not have come in a more timely manner than today, when we are going through the so-called energy transition, which is addressing a much more complicated issue, and that complication gets even more when talking about natural circumstances for those who are the proponent of these ideas. Clearly, the world needs to have that flexibility to ensure that whatever we do, deliver us all a successful energy transition. I have been consistent saying any transition in anything in the world must be governed by 3 pillars.

[M080-12] · سمو وزير الطاقة (HRH the Minister of Energy) · التوقيت 00:07:30 · HRH remarks at Future Minerals Forum 2022 · 2022-01-12 · مشاهدة عند هذا التوقيت

The 1st is energy security because it is the most paramount issue that we need to be guided, and I have tried to avoid disturbing. Two we must be mindful of billions of billions of people that have not had their share of economic development and growth and prosperity, and for that, they need to be given not only the opportunity but the helping hand and the support way of living in the future. The calling amongst our youth, even in Saudi Arabia, is that we would like to have a better environment to live within.

[M080-13] · سمو وزير الطاقة (HRH the Minister of Energy) · التوقيت 00:08:21 · HRH remarks at Future Minerals Forum 2022 · 2022-01-12 · مشاهدة عند هذا التوقيت

4th, We should not underestimate as a subset, the human ingenuity of being creative. Right now in our ministry, I have a team whom I am very proud to say the composure of it are actually, majority are women who are working hard on looking at technologies that would deliver us, be it in our concept the circular carbon economy, which we believe that would give us a serious sense of focus on what to do to give us that ambition. Still continue producing hydrocarbons, still exporting hydrocarbons, still monetizing hydrocarbons, and still manufacturing materials from hydrocarbons yet, making sure that we will do all of our best when it comes to the efficient use of these resources, the mitigation of any remnants of emissions.

[M080-14] · سمو وزير الطاقة (HRH the Minister of Energy) · التوقيت 00:09:36 · HRH remarks at Future Minerals Forum 2022 · 2022-01-12 · مشاهدة عند هذا التوقيت

We have a proud record when it comes to our methane emissions. Andrew, you are a sit on the board of Aramco also, and you know, how exemplary Aramco is when it comes to methane emissions. We will be engaged with the global methane emission which has been put together now because we actually want to share our experience, how successful we have been when it comes to methane reduction. Our job is to make sure that through the Saudi Green Initiative and the Middle East Green Initiative, that the Crown Prince had put together, and he is so adamant about executing it to the letter, which is a composure of too many initiatives that would deliver us for our own sake, for our own country economic development, yet mindful of the environmental hazards and the mitigation and the adaptation for where it may come as a result of development.

[M080-15] · سمو وزير الطاقة (HRH the Minister of Energy) · التوقيت 00:10:49 · HRH remarks at Future Minerals Forum 2022 · 2022-01-12 · مشاهدة عند هذا التوقيت

We are also mindful of the fact that we need to lend a supporting and helping hand to our partners in the region and elsewhere, including countries in Africa and Southeast Asia in the form of providing them with clean cooking fuel and what have you. Then mineral element now which is, I will leave it for our friends in the ministry of industry and the ecosystem within the mineral industry in Saudi Arabia to expose. Again, this side of the story as a result of moving towards renewable more and Evs and what have you, more and more, the world will become more reliant on minerals which will be required in manufacturing all of these goods. The concern we have, as we are, ourselves, moving to that direction is we want to make sure that our resources are exploited, and we do have abundance of it.

[M080-16] · سمو وزير الطاقة (HRH the Minister of Energy) · التوقيت 00:12:06 · HRH remarks at Future Minerals Forum 2022 · 2022-01-12 · مشاهدة عند هذا التوقيت

And we will welcome as my friend and colleague Minister Bandar Al-Khorayef probably had mentioned that we welcome partnership, and we are seeking partnership all to the full chain, be it the upstream, the midstream or even the downstream. However, we are even mindful of the fact that if we may be limited in any type of resource domestically, we have the foresight to put together through our champion in minerals Maaden, a subsidiary company that will be developed very soon to again, adventure abroad with partner. We are also reaching out to our nuclear program, and let me be very, you know, explicit about it, we do have a huge amount of Uranium resources, which we would like to exploit, and we will be doing in the most transparent way.

[M080-17] · سمو وزير الطاقة (HRH the Minister of Energy) · التوقيت 00:13:15 · HRH remarks at Future Minerals Forum 2022 · 2022-01-12 · مشاهدة عند هذا التوقيت

And we will be bringing partners, and we will be exploiting that resource, and we will be manufacturing it, and we will be developing it all the way to the yellow cake, and we will be commercially monetizing that resource

[M080-18] · سمو وزير الطاقة (HRH the Minister of Energy) · التوقيت 00:13:41 · HRH remarks at Future Minerals Forum 2022 · 2022-01-12 · مشاهدة عند هذا التوقيت

We will be doing all of the above. However, let me make sure of throwing my warning bleeps. We should not forfeit energy security for the sake of a publicity stance, that transition need to be well-thought of transition as opposed to I would not call it names. The other thing, let us not forfeit energy security for moving away from the old classical concern of being over-reliant on the Middle East when it comes to oil to some different type of energy security challenge, which has to do with the availability of these minerals, and the concentration of the ownership of these minerals, and how the world may be exposed to any type of oligopoly when it comes to pricing these minerals.

[M080-19] · سمو وزير الطاقة (HRH the Minister of Energy) · التوقيت 00:15:00 · HRH remarks at Future Minerals Forum 2022 · 2022-01-12 · مشاهدة عند هذا التوقيت

You are better than me, and many here are way much better than me, but there are projections that talks about, for example, Lithium demand might grow by 600% to name few, copper, Zinc, Alumina, Nickel whatever it is. If you can look at these, you know, so-called transition scenarios, and just try to quantify what would be the demand for all of the above, including EVs and see where is the resource availability, and see how much of the concentration is in a certain part of the world, and ask yourself the question, are not we going to transition from an energy security problem when it comes to oil and the conventional materials? Or to another type of energy security with no particular careful, thoughtful approach of how these things would be attended to? So to me, I still worry about this transition because it may end up being a leap into the future, unfortunately, an unknown future.

[M080-21] · سمو وزير الطاقة (HRH the Minister of Energy) · التوقيت 00:16:49 · HRH remarks at Future Minerals Forum 2022 · 2022-01-12 · مشاهدة عند هذا التوقيت

Women and men.

[M080-24] · سمو وزير الطاقة (HRH the Minister of Energy) · التوقيت 00:18:12 · HRH remarks at Future Minerals Forum 2022 · 2022-01-12 · مشاهدة عند هذا التوقيت

Well, we are not different from the whole world, you know, we are going to be using 50% of our power sector will be moved to renewable. You are the chairman of a company that would produce electrical cars, so our challenge is no different from other people challenges. However, what we are trying to do is to make sure that we do all of the above. It just so happens that we are properly endowed, more endowed than others, and this is the kind of facetiousness that you from now and then, attend to, by asking people. Why should I forfeit my endowments to go into a leap of a future that I am not properly endowed with? The way we work now, but I would like to give just a cynical example of how things evolving in that existing transitionality of the transition.

[M080-25] · سمو وزير الطاقة (HRH the Minister of Energy) · التوقيت 00:19:17 · HRH remarks at Future Minerals Forum 2022 · 2022-01-12 · مشاهدة عند هذا التوقيت

Again, my English is my second language so, but just to give you the cynical example, here is countries that are swearing wholeheartedly never to use hydrocarbon, wholeheartedly never use coal, and look at them today. In some countries, in the event they were hosting, the wind did not work, and countries now that have abandoned using nuclear are using more coal today, doubling their take of cold today, and the reality would fall rightly where people now are reconsidering greening nuclear and greening gas. This is just in the matter of the last 5 months.

[M080-26] · سمو وزير الطاقة (HRH the Minister of Energy) · التوقيت 00:20:18 · HRH remarks at Future Minerals Forum 2022 · 2022-01-12 · مشاهدة عند هذا التوقيت

Can you take that further forward and see how the world would evolve in the US for now? The US is producing nicely, and the US will grow its production in 2022, and the US will probably, as in accordance to the EIA Report yesterday, would even, their production would increase in 2023 more, so I think we forfeit the idea that there is a market, and the market will always determine what happens to the world economy and investments and investors, and those who lend will move where the market is, regardless of the current signals, the true signals will be the rewards that people would be reaping, if they do the right investment in the right time.

[M080-27] · سمو وزير الطاقة (HRH the Minister of Energy) · التوقيت 00:21:18 · HRH remarks at Future Minerals Forum 2022 · 2022-01-12 · مشاهدة عند هذا التوقيت

And therefore, here comes the reality. People now skip the so-called la la land scenario, and focusing on the reality as we see it. We are not saying anything except focusing on what we develop because I think we will be doing ourselves a great job, and doing the world a great job. If we can create of what we are doing a model for people to see, we would not be in the business of talking, we will be in the business of doing. Some of our young cadets remind me of a line that I use all the time that we are here to develop and to prove, and actually, we have, as you know, Andrew, and Andrew has been involved with us.

[M080-28] · سمو وزير الطاقة (HRH the Minister of Energy) · التوقيت 00:22:21 · HRH remarks at Future Minerals Forum 2022 · 2022-01-12 · مشاهدة عند هذا التوقيت

We are doing all of the above. Actually, our energy strategy which will be published very soon. We, as you know, His Highness the Crown Prince, Prince Mohammed is extremely focused on local content because there is a lost opportunity that we need to not forfeit. It just to happen that in the energy sector itself, and if you congregate other beneficiaries that would come of, as a result of the evolution of I would not call it, I would call it localization program, and you know, how we operate in the energy ecosystem. We bring all parties involved with us.

[M080-30] · سمو وزير الطاقة (HRH the Minister of Energy) · التوقيت 00:23:09 · HRH remarks at Future Minerals Forum 2022 · 2022-01-12 · مشاهدة عند هذا التوقيت

To work with us, we have a number to reach out to, which is exactly, Mr. Khorayef is here with us. He will tell you more about that too. It is about 2.8 trillion Riyals of potential localization in Saudi Arabia by 2030, so we will be manufacturing a lot of these things, and we have an ambition of 75% of localization, that localization scheme would bring a lot of investment in this country.

[M080-32] · سمو وزير الطاقة (HRH the Minister of Energy) · التوقيت 00:23:45 · HRH remarks at Future Minerals Forum 2022 · 2022-01-12 · مشاهدة عند هذا التوقيت

And again that would entail using everything, using talent, using minerals, using everything that this part of the world can produce. What is more important, it would bring opportunities, investment opportunities, training opportunities, jobs opportunities, growth opportunities, GDP growth contribution, and a continuity of jobs and continuity of thriving economy, but you have to put these plans in real tests, and you have to work with everybody that can enable you to achieve these targets, and you have to KPI it, and yes, we have to have a leadership that will be on everybody’s neck, including myself, to make sure that these things are delivered because it is not something that we do out of luxury. It is something that we need to do out of a belief that we owe it to this generation and the generations to come.

[M080-34] · سمو وزير الطاقة (HRH the Minister of Energy) · التوقيت 00:25:27 · HRH remarks at Future Minerals Forum 2022 · 2022-01-12 · مشاهدة عند هذا التوقيت

No, it will be, next week we will be celebrating pilot projects in 8 sites when it comes to hydrogen. Next week we will be signing ceremony, I would not take away the steam out of it. And yes, we have the potential of being, in Saudi Arabia will continuously for our friends, unfortunately for our foes, will be the leading part in the energy map period.

[M080-36] · سمو وزير الطاقة (HRH the Minister of Energy) · التوقيت 00:26:46 · HRH remarks at Future Minerals Forum 2022 · 2022-01-12 · مشاهدة عند هذا التوقيت

As we speak now, we are talking with our colleagues with the PIF on how to localize renewable, nobody can imagine how much people are very serious, reaching out to us, wanting to be part of our story. Why? Because they see our story being serious. It is not an elaboration, it is not a PR thing, it is part and parcel of our planning. We are KPI to deliver that, we have created the enablers for that, and we are reaching out to people to come and do it with us, we are luckily, we are demonstrating what we potentially can do. Now, we are served by economics when you become the cheapest producer of electricity coming from renewable, and when you have the biggest experience when handling desalination. The most logical argument that comes after that, why you cannot be the cheapest producer of green hydrogen.

[M080-37] · سمو وزير الطاقة (HRH the Minister of Energy) · التوقيت 00:28:10 · HRH remarks at Future Minerals Forum 2022 · 2022-01-12 · مشاهدة عند هذا التوقيت

And the answer is that we can. Why? Because these two things will enable us to do that. Our business model would enable us to do that. We are not cocooned and blocked in and blocked in and what have you, we are open to every opportunity that comes our way, to every technology that comes our way. If you have that openness toward adapting any potential technology that might evolve, that would be making the whole thing more effective, more efficient, more cost-effective, more efficient. If you can bring partners with you that can trust you, and that trust will have to be earned because you would have to have an established record with them of being candid, honest, serious, elaborate, thoughtful, and committed.

[M080-38] · سمو وزير الطاقة (HRH the Minister of Energy) · التوقيت 00:29:10 · HRH remarks at Future Minerals Forum 2022 · 2022-01-12 · مشاهدة عند هذا التوقيت

These partners will come in, will work with you, and you have to also share with them the benefits, because without which they would not be. We are working with our friends from the EU, we hope that we congregate, for example, our EU partners to work with us on delivering hydrogen, either it is ammonia shipped by or even piping it.

[M080-40] · سمو وزير الطاقة (HRH the Minister of Energy) · التوقيت 00:29:37 · HRH remarks at Future Minerals Forum 2022 · 2022-01-12 · مشاهدة عند هذا التوقيت

We are working with our friends from the East on blue. Again, we are becoming more prolific when it comes to gas, we are handling shale gas as good as actually, I will give it to ourselves. We have a much better a shale potential than even the US when it comes to using the new technologies that it is in existence today, and we are trying some new technologies, which would make it even much more efficient, much more effective, and more important, believe it or not, more environmentally, friendly than anywhere else.