OPEC chief warns of ‘energy chaos’ if fossil fuels are scrapped

Dubai: OPEC’s top official warned against abandoning fossil fuels, hitting back once again at remarks from the world’s energy watchdog.

Cutting out hydrocarbons “would lead to energy chaos on a potentially unprecedented scale, with dire consequences for economies and billions of people across the world,” Secretary-General Haitham Al Ghais said Thursday in a statement.

On Wednesday, the International Energy Agency said oil demand may plateau this decade as consumers shift more to renewables to avert catastrophic climate change. “We may be witnessing the beginning of the end of the fossil-fuel era,” IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol said.