The world needs more oil and gas, says Elon Musk

Elon Musk said the world needs oil and gas to prevent civilization from crumbling. He made an oil and gas conference in Stavanger, Norway, and also mused on climate change, population decline, and renewable energy. Musk told delegates that we needed to use oil and gas in the short term; otherwise, civilization would crumble. One of the biggest challenges the world has never faced is the transition to sustainable energy and a sustainable economy. It takes some decades to complete.

This insecurity in energy had increased following Russia’s decision to restrict natural gas flows to Europe after it invaded Ukraine and other factors such as drought in Europe. Norway should drill for more oil and gas where some additional exploration was warranted. The offshore wind power generation in the North Sea, combined with battery packs, could become a key energy source. It provides a strong, sustainable energy source in winter.

Ben van Beurden, the CEO of Shell, said that Europe might need to continue rationing energy for several years because the crisis was likely to continue for more than one winter. Musk, the world’s richest man and CEO of electric car maker Tesla told, in recent months, it is not the first time; he has called for more production of fossil fuels.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the West’s imposition of sanctions in March, Musk tweeted we need to increase oil and gas output immediately. Extraordinary times demand extraordinary measures, which would be bad for Tesla.

During the transition to net zero, Musk doubled his support for nuclear energy. The shutdowns of the nuclear power plants were anti-human. The population decline was a bigger threat to humanity than global warming, reiterating those comments in Norway.

Lakshmi Durga