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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Major oil and gas
engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) companies are increasingly
shifting their strategies toward cleaner energy segments, according to Hydrocarbonprocessing.
With
a bleak investment outlook for the sector in the wake of COVID-19, now is seen
as good a time as any for major oil and gas companies to make strategic shifts
in energy transition, according to analysis by GlobalData.
Major oil and
gas EPCs, which have traditionally relied on projects within the oil and gas
value chain and have had relatively little exposure to renewables, are now
looking to renewables and other clean energy sectors for future
growth.
EPC companies are adopting diverse strategies to position
themselves for the energy transition. Aker and TechnipFMC, for example, have
restructured their businesses to create dedicated units for low-carbon projects.
Petrofac aims to achieve net zero in Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions by 2030.
Despite these varying approaches, the most common target segments among major
oil and gas EPC companies are offshore wind and carbon capture and storage
(CCS).
“COVID-19 brought a major oil and gas demand shock, delayed
projects and raised additional questions about the potential for future oil
demand growth. Oil and gas investment is likely to flatline at best over the
coming years, and companies will need to look to the growth markets of new
energy sectors to support their businesses,” said Will Scargill, GlobalData
managing oil and gas analyst.
“The targeting of offshore wind and carbon
capture is a common theme among companies from the oil and gas sector looking to
adapt for the energy transition due to the potential for knowledge synergies.
Oil and gas EPCs looking to target new segments will also hope to benefit from
existing partnerships with clients making a similar transition. However, their
growth plans will face a challenge from incumbent players in the renewables
space,” Scargill added.
As MRC informed earlier,
the coronavirus pandemic underscored BP's efforts to "reimagine energy" by
taking a leading role in the push to cleaner, low-carbon fuels, said CEO
Bernard Looney in July, 2020. Rising levels uncertainty over the future demand
for oil, oil price volatility, a growing attractiveness of stable returns from
some renewables, and an increased awareness of "the fragility of the world we
live in" mean BP is taking the right path to pursue lower-carbon fuels, Looney
said.
We remind that in July, 2020, the Turkish Competition
Council gave
permission to SOCAR and BP to establish a joint venture that will operate in
the petrochemical sector. Earlier it was reported that SOCAR and BP applied to
the relevant institutions in Turkey to establish a joint petrochemical company,
which will be called Mercury complex, in April 2020. Recall that on December 20,
2018 SOCAR and BP signed contractual
principles for evaluation of plans for creation a world-class petrochemical
complex in Turkey and establishment of a joint venture to manage
it.
Construction of the complex was planned to begin during the current
year in order to put the enterprise into operation in 2023-2025. However, due to
low oil prices and to the COVID-19 pandemic, the project implementation has been
postponed until 2021. The Mercury complex will be built near the Petkim
petrochemical complex and the STAR refinery in Aliaga region. The enterprise
will produce 1.25 million tons of purified terephthalic acid (PTA), 840 thousand
tons of paraxylene (PX), 340 thousand tons of benzene.
PTA is the main
raw material in the production of polyester from which beverage and food
containers, packaging materials, photo and film and other consumer and
industrial goods are derived.
According to ICIS-MRC Price
report, consumption of PET chips by Russian converters decreased in October,
which is generally in line with the current season. Market participants
reported weak demand in the Russian PET chips market at the end
of last month and expect its further decline in early November. The
revival of the domestic PET market is expected in the second half
of November, before the New Year holidays. |
