Majid Jafar, CEO, Crescent Petroleum, HE Suhail Al Mazrouei, Minister of Energy of the UAE, and Lisa Davis, Managing Board Member and CEO, Energy, Siemens AG

Sharjah, UAE, 13 January 2019: Policy makers worldwide have a proven solution for cutting carbon emissions by switching electricity generation from coal and oil to natural gas, Majid Jafar, CEO, Crescent Petroleum, said, through a Press communiqué.

Jafar, who also serves as Board Managing Director of Dana Gas and Vice-Chairman of the Crescent Group of companies, made his comments at the Atlantic Council Global Energy Forum 2019, which opened on January 12, in Abu Dhabi.

“As global demand for energy rises, natural gas is emerging as a fuel of choice for power generation in the 21st century, serving as a central ingredient in a more sustainable energy mix, in combination with renewable energy sources, such as solar and wind,” Jafar said.

Jafar added: “The switch to natural gas from coal and oil for baseload power generation could result in the kind of rapid emissions reductions that are needed and could have a definitive impact on global carbon footprint. The growing use of natural gas is estimated to have avoided over two billion metric tonnes of carbon dioxide between 2005 and 2016, and its impact will only increase as gas adoption expands in growing regions like Asia.”

Speaking on a panel entitled ‘Setting the Energy Agenda for 2019’, Jafar joined HE Suhail Al Mazrouei, Minister of Energy of the UAE, and Lisa Davis, Managing Board Member and Chief Executive Officer, Energy, Siemens AG, in discussing the future of energy, OPEC and the latest developments and outlook for the industry worldwide, the communiqué said.

The communiqué said the 2019 Global Energy Forum, which ends on January 13, is focused on four key themes: the future of oil, the digitisation of energy, diversification within energy companies and countries and a regional focus on East and Southeast Asia energy demand and energy innovation. The communiqué further said that the Forum is part of Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week and is convened in partnership with the Ministry of Energy & Industry of the UAE, Abu Dhabi National Oil Company and Mubadala Investment Company, with Crescent Petroleum as Platinum Co-Chair.