The director of Paris-based energy watchdog International Energy Agency has said investment in oil and gas in vital for global energy security.
The comments, Reuters reports, are more in line with US president Donald Trump's "drill, baby, drill" approach.
Speaking at the CERAWeek energy conference in Houston, Fatih Birol said: "I want to make it clear ... there would be a need for investment, especially to address the decline in the existing fields.
"There is a need for oil and gas upstream investments, full stop."
The International Energy Agency (IEA) had come under fire from advocates of fossil fuels for previously suggesting ending new oil and gas developments.
The IEA, which has been the energy watchdog for industrialised governments for decades and provides guidance on energy security policy as well as supply and investment, says it must focus on what its members see as important for the future of energy security.