THE United Arab Emirates (UAE) vowed to increase oil production to five million barrels a day as it opened its annual oil and gas summit in Abu Dhabi today.

Sultan Ahmed al-Jaber, head of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, said demand for fossil fuels would rise despite a transition to renewable energy, because of the huge energy needs of developing artificial intelligence (AI) systems.

“No single source of energy is going to be enough to meet this demand,” he said. “Oil will continue to be used for fuel and as a building block for many essential products.”

His remarks will cause dismay among environmentalists given the internationally recognised need to reduce use of fossil fuels to slow global warming. Dr Jaber, who is also a Commander in the Order of the British Empire, chaired the Cop28 climate summit in Dubai, which committed countries to move away from fossil fuel use.

UAE Energy & Infrastructure Minister Suhail al-Mazrouei said the country was “committed to invest resources in the future to ensure the world will have adequate oil and gas resources.”