Market Intelligence
& Interviews
Informed articles from the go-to people in the oil and gas industry
Nigeria Assembly: Key Takeaways
In November 2017, the Oil & Gas Council was back in Lagos to hold the Nigeria Assembly for the 3rd time. Over the course of the Assembly, a number of key themes emerged from our speakers and attendees alike which we would like to share with the wider network.
Nick Cooper, CEO, Ophir
The major short term focus for Ophir is progressing the Fortuna FLNG project to FID in mid-2016. Beyond that it is around making sure we are focused on delivering value growth from our assets.
Chris Midgley, Chief Economist, Shell Trading
Chris Midgley is Chief Economist for Shell Trading and Head of Oil Markets Analysis. Chris advises the business on short term dynamics affecting Global Oil Markets as well as leading a team which model the future crude, oil products and chemicals trends.
Gas Naturally Complements Renewables
The world has a growing population, increasing from 7 billion to 9 billion people by mid-century, with a higher expectation and affordability for their quality of life. Of these 9 billion people, more than half will live in Asia.
This will drive higher energy consumption for decades to come, even with improvements in efficiency.
On the Spot with Perenco, Tethys Oil, and Sterling Energy Plc
I would expect JV counterparty distress to become a major challenge in a sustained low-price environment, as some players in the industry face a very real insolvency risk.
Executive Interview: Abhi Kohok, Subsurface Director, INEOS Energy
We caught up with the Abhi Kohok, Subsurface Director at INEOS Energy, ahead of the World Energy Capital Assembly to hear more about INEOS Energy’s CCS pilot and more success stories from the past year.
Angus McCoss, Exploration Director, Tullow Oil
I suppose a good place to start would be about a year before the oil price fell, in 2013. We noticed at that time that the industry cost structure had become severely inflated. Our ultra deepwater wildcats could cost $250 million gross and the industry was maxed-out in terms of activity and this was stretching global capacity and global capability.
As a consequence, the industry performance as a whole at the top of the last cycle wasn’t that good because of the over-reach and the very high cost structure.
Alternative Energy is now anything but
At the Oil and Gas Council, our role is to ensure we reflect our membership. It hasn’t escaped our notice that many of our members are undergoing efforts to realign their core business to a broader energy focus. Additionally, our network of financiers and investors are increasingly open to new opportunities that don’t sit in the traditional realms of upstream.
Our network has been built around connectivity, trust, integrity and most important impartiality. This final pillar presents an important distinction to many of the initiatives currently being pursued in the clean energy space.
Asia Pacific Assembly Takeaways
Asia is one of the most dynamic regions in the global energy sector. Several factors including robust economic progress and demographic advancement have led to incredible growth over the last few years, with expectations of continued high demand in the short-, medium- and long-term. China has been the main market of energy growth. Across Asia the electrification of the region’s rural population will be the main driver for energy demand.
Melody Meyer, Non-Executive Director, BP
I was born in an oil camp in North Dakota and my father was a Petroleum Engineer, so I was literally raised learning about the industry. I attended my first OTC when I was 13 years old.