The energy sector is one of the main drivers of the new technological revolution, said Igor Sechin, Chief Executive Officer of Rosneft, at the Energy Panel at the XXVIII St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.

Delivering a keynote speech, he noted that the digital revolution with the application of artificial intelligence and work with big data should become the basis for labor productivity growth.

Investment bank Goldman Sachs estimates that large-scale implementation of high technologies will increase labor productivity by 1.5 p.p. for developed countries and by 1 p.p. for developing countries within 10 years. “However, the development of advanced technologies requires substantial natural resources, as well as large-scale investments in infrastructure and human capital. This, in turn, means a multiple increase in energy consumption,” Rosneft CEO noted.

“Undoubtedly, one of the main driving forces of the new technological revolution is the energy sector,” Sechin said. He recalled that the use of artificial intelligence on the basis of large data processing centers is a highly energy-intensive process. “According to the International Energy Agency, the electricity demand of a single 100 megawatt data center today is comparable to the consumption of 100,000 households. In the future, this demand could increase by several tens of times,” the Rosneft CEO added.

Such centers, according to Sechin, will contribute more to the growth of global electricity demand than heavy industry or heat supply. “According to forecasts , by 2030 their electricity consumption will more than double, reaching one thousand terawatt-hours, which is comparable to Japan's current consumption,” said the CEO of Rosneft.

Igor Sechin also cited the development of the cryptocurrency market as an example of the impact of digitalization on the global energy system. According to him, in less than ten years they have turned into an independent industry, which today consumes resources on a par with entire countries. For example, the energy consumption of the entire bitcoin network as of May 2025 has already exceeded the level of electricity consumption in Poland.

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