(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) UAE Energy Minister Suhail bin Mohammed Faraj Faris Al Mazrouei has said the drop in oil prices is unlikely to continue for a long period.
Suhail Al Mazrouei said the UAE would continue its strategy of diversifying its energy mix for power generation. - AP
Addressing the World Future Energy Summit in Abu Dhabi on Monday, he said that the country would not change its energy strategy because of the oil price fall.
"I doubt it is going to last for very long," the minister said.
Brent crude continued its slide on Monday and traded around $49.81 a barrel while West Texas Intermediate dropped as much as $1.03 to $47.66 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
"I am a believer in sustainable development, and sustainable development in the oil sector can't be achieved under current prices," Al Mazrouei added.
The energy minister said the UAE would continue its strategy of diversifying its energy mix for power generation. "We should not change course because of what happened [with oil prices]," he said.
The country is diversifying its energy mix by going nuclear and generating energy from sun shine. Abu Dhabi is going to get 25 per cent of its total energy capacity from the four nuclear power plants being setup in Baraka to generate 5,600 megawatt, in a phased manner, through 2020.
Abu Dhabi, the energy ministersaid was sensitive to protecting its environment, as the nation's father late Shaikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan laid strong emphasis on energy conservation. He said that Shaikh Zayed promoted the policies of cutting down gas flaring and the sustainable economic development.
On the country's natural gas needs, Al Mazrouei said the UAE was importing about 50 per cent of its needs and would be placing more import orders to generate electric power.
Last week, the minister said the UAE wanted to import more natural gas from Qatar through the Dolphin pipeline.
The minister said the recent sucessful bidding of a solar project in Dubai was highly encouraging for the renewable energy sector, as lower than expected bids recevied which would open doors to more such projects. Lower bids has encourged Dubai to double the installed capacity to 200 megawatt, the minister said.
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