World Energy Capital Assembly X 2020 Seminar

Paul Minton enjoyed the WECA X 2020 Seminar, thank you to all involved. These are his thoughts on what it meant to the upstream supply sector.

Public and investor sentiment to oil and gas has over-reacted given that oil will be needed for some time to come.

The value of gas as a lower carbon intensity transition fuel, and enabler of the hydrogen economy is not being recognised. To secure gas’s place though, maybe some thought needs to be given to ensure the message is one of the coming hydrogen economy, and less time given to debating green vs blue.

The end of the pandemic is in sight, and with it the end of that cycle. However, for oil price, other pressures are likely to come into play, notably a changing US approach to Iran, and the restart of Libyan oil production.

Peter Mather, Regional VP, BP, expressed that the future for BP “is not the next new field, it is rewiring for the transition”, and “BP remains focussed on resilient hydrocarbons, but will reduce in hydrocarbon markets by 30 to 40% by 2030”. That is probably the most succinct statement of the potential future being made at the moment.

The issue of low price and high volatility still weighs on investors’ minds. In contrast, the MENA and Asian economies are taking a longer term view on value and continuing to invest. Energy is in transition, but different regions and different sectors are looking at it differently.

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