China National Petroleum Corporation and S&P Global jointly held the 2024 (11th) International Energy Development Summit in Beijing.

Recently, the CNPC Economic and Technological Research Institute (national high-end think tank) and S&P Global hosted the 11th International Energy Development Summit of 2024 in Beijing. The theme of the summit was "Balancing Multi-dimensional Transformation of Energy and Building a Sustainable Future." It attracted near 400 experts and scholars including from relevant state ministries and commissions, industry associations, Chinese and foreign energy companies, national high-end think tanks and scientific research institutions, and financial investment institutions to discuss the future outlook of global energy transformation and sustainable development.

Ren Jingdong, deputy director of the National Energy Administration of China, informed in his speech that China has deepened its transformation of energy production and consumption modes, comprehensively improved its capability of securing energy supplies, and achieved a historic breakthrough in green and low-carbon development. He proposed that China must adhere to building first and then breaking when it comes to high-quality energy development; build a safe and resilient energy system_adhere to systematic planning; promote a green transformation of fossil energy; empower digital intelligence; cultivate smart and efficient energy with new quality productivity; adhere to open cooperation, and build a shared-destiny energy system.

Duan Liangwei, deputy secretary of the Party Committee of China National Petroleum Corporation, said that the energy industry is accelerating its transformation towards clean, low-carbon, efficient and diversified directions. It has become a general trend to balance the multi-dimensional transformation of energy and build a sustainable future. PetroChina vigorously promotes the integrated development of oil and gas and new energy, continuously improves the ability to efficiently supply energy, firmly transforms into a comprehensive energy supplier of "oil, gas, heat, electricity and hydrogen", continuously strengthens innovation-driven development, and has made important breakthroughs in a number of key core technologies in the fields of oil and gas new energy, refining and new materials.

Former French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin said that the world is at a critical period, the global economic landscape is changing rapidly, and energy transformation must integrate five dimensions: technology, environment, economy, society and regulation. Technology is the main means to promote the transformation from fossil fuels to renewable energy. It requires support from multiple aspects such as energy storage technology, digital innovation, policy supervision and global collaboration to shape an environmentally friendly, economically resilient and socially inclusive future.

Haitham Ghaith, Secretary General of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, Gao Wang, Ambassador of Brazil to China, Li Yalan, Chairman of the International Gas Union, Huang Zhi, Chairman of S&P Global China and CEO of S&P Credit Ratings, attended the meeting or delivered speeches via video. Qian Xingkun, Executive Director and Party Secretary of the China National Petroleum Corporation Economic and Technological Research Institute, presided over the first main forum.

A radical set of changes is underway in the global political economy and energy landscape. Daniel Yergin, Vice Chairman of S&P Global, stated in his speech that the world is now facing a new energy landscape. The global oil and gas supply and demand pattern differs fundamentally from that which was applicable over the past 20 years. China's rapid development in new energy and renewable energy puts it in the driver's seat of energy transformation. The United States is the largest LNG exporter in the world due to the shale revolution. There is a replacement of oil and natural gas from Russia by production from other countries, thanks to the Ukrainian crisis. The energy transition needs to face severe challenges of "multi-dimensional balance" where we must give due regard to all the differences and priorities of individual countries and regions in promoting the energy transition. Many factors influence which include economic development, transformation costs, energy security, development stage, resource development, power supply, and geopolitics. Balanced energy development should advocate a rational and objective energy transformation concept.

The former deputy director of the National Development and Reform Commission and expert of the China Center for International Economic Exchanges, Zhang Xiaoqiang, conducted an in-depth analysis into the high-quality energy development and high-level security in China. According to him, China has built an energy supply system featuring the comprehensive development of coal, electricity, oil, natural gas, new energy, and renewable energy, with ever-improving technical equipment levels. Scientific and technological innovation, and industrial development will play an extremely important role in the process of China's high-quality energy development. In any case, he presented principles regarding the construction of new energy systems of "first build and then break" because fossil energy is required to play its bottom line guarantee role in such a development. Sun Xiansheng, president of the International Energy Transition Society, former secretary-general of the International Energy Forum, and former director of the China National Petroleum Corporation Economic and Technological Research Institute, had an on-site dialogue with Ye Jin and Zhang Xiaoqiang on the one hand.

In the release of the Global Energy Security Report (2024), Lu Ruquan, the director of the China National Petroleum Corporation Economic and Technological Research Institute, pointed out that pressures would ease off into 2024. However, geopolitical risks remain too significant; energy cooperation will face resistance; transformation will have several obstacles ahead, and the energy system model is undergoing fundamental changes. Attention will need to be given in the coming years to four risks: geopolitics, power security, artificial intelligence, and sustainability. During the forum, Luo Liangcai, also deputy director of the China National Petroleum Corporation Economic and Technological Research Institute, and Wu Mouyuan announced the "Energy Technology Progress and Outlook Report (2024)" and the "2060 World and China Energy Outlook (2024)", respectively.

At the forum, Chinese and foreign guests conducted in-depth exchanges on topics such as the new international geopolitical landscape, global macroeconomics, and global energy structure changes. It is generally believed that the current world faces the dual challenges of energy sustainability and rapid changes in the economic landscape. The biggest factor affecting global energy availability is still geopolitical risks. Conflicts in various regions have a tendency to spill over, spread, and escalate, threatening the security of the energy industry chain and supply chain. The development of the global petroleum and petrochemical industry is facing great differentiation, great adjustment, and great reconstruction. To balance the multi-dimensional energy transformation, scientific and technological innovation is the core driving force, and the energy industry should be driven from resource dependence to innovation-driven.

The "International Energy Development Forum (IEEF)" was founded in 2013. After more than ten years of dedicated exploration, it has become an important annual event in China's energy field. This forum lasted for two days, with two main forums and six parallel sub-forums. The sub-forums held in six dimensions, focusing on energy transformation and green and low-carbon development, accelerated adjustment of the petroleum and petrochemical market, global natural gas market and trade, energy technology and digital empowerment, energy company development strategy and ESG, and energy geopolitics and international cooperation, received widespread attention from the experts attending the forum.