Abu Dhabi state-owned holding firm Mubadala Investment Company will invest heavily in the development of hydrogen as an alternative fuel but will not exit its other strategic investments in the energy space, the chief executive of UAE Investments at Mubadala Investment Company, said. 

According to Musabbeh Al-Kaabi, worldwide energy demand will double from now until 2050 and hydrogen could be an emerging source to meet future energy requirements.

“We identified hydrogen as one of the emerging energy source that would definitely help in meeting the energy demand in the future, and addressing one key topic, which is the climate change. So, we’re monitoring the space. We’re putting the right efforts, resources in place to play our part”, he said while speaking at the Atlantic Council’s 2021 Global Energy Forum.

The CEO of UAE Investments at Mubadala said that Mubadala Petroleum will not exit its oil operations in Southeast Asia—specifically Malaysia and Thailand—in view of the opportunities in the alternative energy space. However, focus on natural gas is a main strategy.

“Natural gas is enjoying, relatively speaking, stronger growth than oil, at least until 2035 or 2040. And that’s the strategy currently. But it’s very important also to maintain a very low-cost production, because in the energy transition I think it’s very, very important that we remain profitable, resilient [in response to] whatever commodity prices we see going forward.”

ESG Focus

Al-Kaabi said Mubadala is taking Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) very seriously and has joined the International Forum for Sovereign Wealth Fund (IFSWF) and One Planet.

“We have a committee internally that looks at the investments from the ESG lens. We’re making sure that going forward we will play a constructive role in ensuring that our investments are in high compliance with ESG requirements”.

He said the company is currently running a programme to identify its carbon footprint and putting in right measures in place to ensure environmental compliance.

(Reporting by Sowmya Sundar; editing by Seban Scaria)

seban.scaria@refinitiv.com

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