By Arathy Somasekhar and Maha El Dahan

HOUSTON, March 10 (Reuters) -

Policymakers and energy executives need to rethink energy

transition plans and stop doubling down on elements of the

transition that have failed, the CEO of state oil giant Saudi

Aramco said on Monday, stressing the need for

investment in fossil fuels to meet global demand.

The comments from the head of the world's largest oil

company come as the administration of President Donald Trump

pushes to maximize oil and gas production, a dramatic U-turn in

U.S. energy policy after former President Joe Biden enacted

legislation to accelerate the transition away from fossil fuels

in the world's largest economy.

In Europe, policymakers have slowed the rollout of clean

energy policies and delayed targets as energy costs soared

following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, shifting their

focus to energy security. European oil majors have pulled back

from plans to build-out greener technologies because they have

proved unprofitable.

"We can all feel the winds of history in our industry's

sails again," Aramco CEO Amin Nasser told executives from the

world's biggest energy companies at the CERAWeek conference in

Houston.

"It is time to stop reinforcing failure," Nasser said,

referring to green hydrogen as an example of a fuel that has

been the focus of energy transition policies, but which is still

too expensive for widespread commercial use.

"In fact, there is more chance of Elvis speaking next

than the current plan working," he said.

New energy sources can complement fossil fuels but not

replace them, he said. Investment in all sources of energy was

needed to meet global energy demand, he added.

"... the current strategy of prematurely switching to

immature alternatives has been so self-destructive. New sources

cannot even meet the growth in demand."

Deregulation and greater incentives for financial

institutions to provide "unbiased financing" were necessary to

ensure sufficient investments in energy, he said. Many financial

institutions have reduced their investments in fossil fuels in

favor of more sustainable industries.

Aramco invested more than $50 billion last year in

conventional and renewable energy projects, Nasser said.

The company has a target to invest in up to 12 gigawatts of

solar and wind energy by 2030, he added.

In his address to the conference last year, Nasser also

called on the industry to "abandon the fantasy of phasing out

fossil fuels."