AI zone signage at the Adipec Energy Conference on Tuesday, November 3, 2026 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. The United Arab Emirates has pledged to strengthen its energy infrastructure, saying the Middle East wars have shown the value of investing in alternative supply routes and spare capacity to weather times of crisis. Photographer: Walaa Alshaer/Bloomberg via Getty Images
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Rising energy demand is creating new investment opportunities, even as geopolitical risks and uncertain oil prices pose challenges to the industry.
Baker Hughes CEO Lorenzo Simonelli is optimistic about the long-term outlook, citing AI, population growth and developing countries as factors supporting continued growth in energy demand.
Simonelli told CNBC’s Dan Murphy on “access to the Middle East” at the ADIPEC energy conference in Abu Dhabi, “I think we’re in for a decade of demand.” “Capex is expected to improve and increase over time,” he said, as increased consumption requires additional infrastructure to support demand.
However, converting that demand into revenue may be difficult.
Markus Kleber, CEO of German energy company RWE, said AI and electrification were boosting electricity demand, but geopolitical tensions, supply chain pressures and rising interest rates were complicating investment decisions.
“There’s a huge investment opportunity, but at the same time there’s a very challenging investment environment,” Klebber said in a separate ADIPEC discussion. As for the planned expansion of computing power and the power needed to support it, he said, “It’s going to happen eventually, but it’s probably going to happen slowly.”
BP CEO Meg O’Neill told ADIPEC that broad forecasts of global energy demand were a key consideration in investment decisions, given that new oil and gas projects take years to develop and production can last for decades.
He also highlighted the uncertainty surrounding oil prices, saying, “We need to plan for a lower price environment.”
industry activities
Industry activity is expected to increase by a low single-digit percentage in 2027, Simonelli said. He said the Middle East conflict has highlighted the need for more resilient energy infrastructure, including additional storage and pipelines.
“But if you look at the energy system, what that really means is that the energy system needs to become much more resilient,” Simonelli said. “It means more storage, it means more pipeline. It means eliminating the choke points that exist today.”
Schneider Electric CEO Olivier Blum pointed out that some projects in the Persian Gulf have been delayed due to conflicts in the Middle East. But “in the medium term, I would say the opportunity to deploy more infrastructure is increasing even more,” he told CNBC.
Of course, the investment equation also depends on the supply outlook.
Richard Bronze, co-founder and head of geopolitics at energy consultancy Energy Aspects, told CNBC in a separate interview that the oil market could face an oversupply in 2027 and 2028.
Supply and demand forecasts, including those from Energy Aspects, “project that the market will be oversupplied in 2027, 2028, once flows from the Middle East return to normal,” Bronze said.
