Riyadh — Minister of Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources Khalid Al-Falih said on Wednesday that more energy investment was needed to meet future demand and warned that policies in many countries are undermining energy sector development.

“Many consuming nations set unrealistic schedules for the deployment of alternative energy sources and enact measures that undermine oil and gas development,” Falih said at an industry event in Riyadh.

“We find increasing pressure including governmental, financial and media factors to prematurely cut investment in conventional energy. In such an environment, the trillions of dollars needed to grow vital conventional energy supplies... are unlikely to be forthcoming.”

Meanwhile, in an interview with CNBC, Falih responded to US President Donald Trump’s tweet by saying that OPEC and its partners are “taking it easy”.

“We are taking it easy. The 25 countries are taking a very slow and measured approach. Just as the second half last year proved, we are interested in market stability first and foremost,” Falih said when asked to comment on Trump's tweet this week.

Falih said current analysis indicated OPEC and its allies, known as OPEC+, may need to extend their agreement to curb output until the end of 2019.

“All the outlooks that we have seen tell us that we will need to continue to moderate production in the second half of this year but you never know, those forecasts are based on certain assumptions,” Falih said.

Falih said in a speech that OPEC and non-OPEC members continue to play their role in balancing the oil market, but that sustaining this role requires timely investments, reliable supply, and appropriate spare capacity.

Oil and gas will continue to dominate the world energy scene for many decades and overall demand for energy will remain robust, he said. — Reuters