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The head of Qatar’s hydrocarbon industry has hit out at Europe and said that it tries to make oil producers a scapegoat for climate change while earning billions of dollars by taxing the industry.
Speaking at a round table event at the World Future Energy Summit currently being held in Abu Dhabi, Abdulla Al-Attiya, Qatar’s head of Energy & Industry, said that working together in regards to future energy was the answer.
“Sometimes people try to blame oil and gas for all the emissions, all the climate change and sometimes [people] are trying to create a scapegoat,” Al-Attiya said.
“Europe they try to stop emissions by creating taxes. In 2006 we calculated that Europe received about US$270 billion tax on oil while we [producers] received a total of $170 billion. So they are making more money than us without putting one dollar into the business,” he added.
Al-Attiya even hit out at the use of the word “alternative” when talking about energy sources not derived from hydrocarbons.
“I like the word mixture, but I don’t like the word alternative. What does this word mean? It means, please move from your seat I have to sit in your seat,” Al-Attiya said.
“We need to use soft language. Not trying to create enemies or trying to make scapegoat,” he added.
Al-Attiya’s also hit out at countries who used to call for the use of alternative energy sources, but have recently discovered oil reserves.
“I remember a few countries that were once against oil and trying to blame everyone but then they discovered oil and they forget everything,” he said.
The outspoken Qatari Minister did say however, that the world needs to plan for the future and that the world needs a mixture of energy sources if it is to meet future demand.
