MOSCOW, October 16. /TASS/. The global energy industry has not yet reached the level of investment it had before the coronavirus pandemic, OPEC Secretary General Haitham Al Ghais said.

"I think we are seeing a revival and growth in investment in the industry but we have probably not yet reached the necessary level. When I say necessary, I mean a level compared to pre-COVID levels," he said in an interview with the Rossiya-24 TV channel on the sidelines of the Russian Energy Week forum.

During this period and after the pandemic, investments in the sector significantly decreased, the OPEC chief added.

"OPEC research shows that we will need 23% more primary energy by 2050. That said, oil demand growth will increase to 123 mln barrels by that year. This means we need to invest more in the oil industry to catch up," he stressed.

Investments are needed to maintain global production at the current level, Secretary General said. "Now that we're talking about demand growing to 123 mln barrels per day by 2050, you can only imagine how much investment that will require. We project that we'll need $18.2 trillion, or about $700 billion per year. This concerns investments in oil production, processing, and transportation," he said.

The 8th Russian Energy Week (REW) international forum is taking place in Moscow from October 15 to 17 at two venues: the main discussions are hosted at the Manezh exhibition hall, while an exhibition of fuel and energy technologies and equipment is held at Gostiny Dvor. The theme of this year's forum is The New Reality of Global Energy: Building the Future. TASS serves as the information partner of REW.