Aramco chief: Bad policy may hurt assets

HOUSTON, Feb. 12 (UPI) -- Policies to combat climate change -- "well-intentioned but ultimately flawed or confusing" -- could hurt oil recovery, the head of Saudi Aramco said.

Abdallah Jumah said Tuesday at an international energy conference oil and gas will be needed to meet rising demand for energy around the world.

"If ... conventional and non-conventional oil resources fall victim to well-intentioned but ultimately flawed or confusing energy policies, then the necessary investment of time, toil and treasure may not materialize, and a significant proportion of these precious resources might not be recovered," Jumah, president and chief executive officer of Aramco, said at the CERA weeklong energy confab.

Jumah said that in a bid to tackle the perception of peak oil, both conventional oil as well non-conventional resources such as tar sands must be considered. He placed the world's in-place endowment of conventional oil and non-conventional fuels at between 13 trillion and 16 trillion barrels.