In a world of exponentially expanding corporate bullshit and doublespeak, AKA ESG, it’s a refreshing change to see the CEO of one of Australia’s largest energy companies still actually pointing out relevant business drivers and market fundamentals rather than simply spouting bromides and half-truths about transition and CO2 and blah blah blah while the world keeps demanding massive amounts of fossil fuels and realising that without them people die and/or drop into energy poverty pretty damn quickly.

As a cold winter and skyrocketing energy prices in Europe and Asia drives billions to the brink of misery, and even the US starts worrying about who is eventually going to pay for its citizens to continue to have access to the massive amounts of energy they’ve become accustomed to, Santos CEO Kevin Gallagher has not pulled any punches this week in an interview, stating quite clearly that fossil fuels are in no way on the way out and essentially daring those ignorant of the true nature of the energy market to come up with a viable alternative, and soon.

“Unless you can replace us tomorrow with some new green fuel that we don’t know what it is today, then the focus should be on developing energy that’s affordable and cleaning it up by reducing emissions until alternatives are viable and affordable,” he says. “Trying to do everything at the one time when that viable alternative is not available is leading to what you’re seeing right now – prices going through the roof globally.

It’s a refreshing little read and Gallagher’s volley of truths about fossil fuel dependence and the importance of existing, traditional energy businesses, otherwise mostly known as oil and gas companies, to ensure the world has enough energy now and on and ongoing basis, with no breaks for a cold winter or a war here or there, is well worth popping in your database of replies and refutations for deranged climate alarmists spouting make-believe numbers around renewables and emissions reductions.

KEY QUOTE:

“We are supplying fuels and energy to most of the world’s users today, and we are used to mega-projects spending trillions of dollars globally every single year building these projects,” he says. “If someone thinks some new set of project builders is just going to arrive from somewhere else with trillions of dollars to start building some new energy infrastructure globally … they are dreaming.”

ARTICLE / SOURCE:

‘They are dreaming’: Why Santos boss Kevin Gallagher still believes in oil and gas – SMH

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