The current state of the global energy industry is at the stage of forming a new landscape, said Igor Sechin, Chief Executive Officer of Rosneft, during his keynote speech "The Odyssey of the World Economy in Search of the Golden Fleece. The New Landscape of the Global Energy Industry" at the XXVIII St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.

“The global energy sector is currently at the stage of creating a new landscape due to a multiple increase in electricity consumption. Electricity will be generated using both fossil fuels and renewables,” the Company's CEO noted at the Energy Panel.

In his report, Sechin described the main factors influencing this change, including the need to ensure energy security and commercial efficiency of energy sources, budget deficit and avalanche growth of the national debt, as well as the demographics of developing countries. According to Igor Sechin, in the next 25 years the population of African and Asia-Pacific countries will increase by 1.4 billion people.

Another factor that, according to the CEO of Rosneft, affects both energy production and consumption growth is the digital revolution with the use of artificial intelligence and big data.

“A special role is being played by the electric power industry, which has to handle the risk of deficit due to the consumption surge in China, India, developing countries, and the gigantic demand for electric power to support data centers and heavy industry,” Sechin said. He noted that the consumption growth will be accompanied by a qualitative increase in labor productivity based on new technologies. "The process has started.  Even today China’s electric power generation is more than twice as high as USA’s, while 20 years ago it was the other way around," he added.

Igor Sechin in his report quoted Vaclav Smil, one of the most authoritative scientists of our time, a proponent of a realistic approach to the transition to new energy sources: "Energy is the universal currency. One of its many forms must be transformed to get anything done." “This is why modern societies with high energy consumption prefer to use resources with the highest useful energy yield, primarily fossil fuels,” Sechin said.

According to the CEO of Rosneft, energy and progress are inseparable from each other - throughout history, the higher a person climbed the ladder of progress, the more energy he needed.

“Those who can actually take part in shaping the new energy landscape will have the opportunity to achieve advanced economic and technological growth. This brings to mind the legend of the search for the Golden Fleece by the Argonauts who overcame enormous hurdles and troubles on the way to achieving happiness and prosperity,” Igor Sechin summarized.

Department of Information and Advertising
Rosneft Oil Company
June 21, 2025