Riyadh, 08 Jumada II 1438 H corresponding to March 7, 2017, SPA -- Minister of Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources Khalid Bin Abdul Aziz Al-Faleh participated in the activities of the annual conference CERAWeek Energy Conference in Houston will continue until the tenth of March, in the city of Houston, Texas, in the United States of America. The conference is the most important global gathering of officials and experts in the energy sector in the world. Minister Khalid Al-Falih delivered a speech explaining the vital role of the kingdom in the global energy sector. The conference is the most important global gathering of officials and experts in the energy sector in the world. Minister Khalid Al-Falih delivered a speech explaining the vital role of the kingdom in the global energy sector. In his speech within the conference's main program, Minister Khalid Al-Falih pointed out expectation of higher demand for energy, based on economic indicators, and increased population globally, taking into account the decline in the intensity of energy consumption thanks to technological advances and improvements in energy efficiency . Minister Khalid Al-Falih explained that costs of alternatives, such as renewable energy and electric vehicles, are declining, due to improved technology and high performance levels, indicating that these alternatives will gain in the future a larger share in the global energy growing market and said, "We welcome their entry into energy market, but we all know that the transformations in the energy have complex phenomena whose completion takes a long time." Minister Khalid Al-Falih said that his recent visit to a number of East Asian countries assured him of the continued increase in demand, pointing out that the steady growth in demand for oil does not seem to stop in developing countries in view of the escalation of imports of these countries, due to the decline in domestic production of oil and gas. Minister Khalid Al-Falih expressed concern that false expectations on peak demand and exploitable oil resources will hinder investments worth trillions of dollars, which are necessary investments to support oil and gas base supply during the long transition period, which is expected to be taking place in the global energy system. The Minister of Energy said, "We are concerned about the investment's inability all over the world to keep pace with the needs of development, and compounding fears is the slow pace of development projects of long-cycle which we need to provide global supply in the future, noting that this is the reason to welcome the return of investment in shale oil resources in the United States. --More 08:07 LOCAL TIME 05:07 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/w348295