December 2018
As we move into 2019, the industry finds itself at a turning point. Surging demand for renewable energy and a growing negative perception of major fossil fuels is seeing even the biggest companies reorganise, reconsider and sometimes completely reverse their strategies. Dutch-based DeRegt Cables is now a leader in the connection of offshore windfarms and solar plants, based on years of expertise in the oil and gas business.
The International Energy Agency’s 2018 World Energy Outlook suggests that solar and natural gas will be the biggest players in the market by 2040, with estimates on demand for natural gas revised upwards by 100 billion cubic metres. China imports a large amount of natural gas and its consumption looks set to drive demand for the commodity. China sees natural gas as part of a solution to curb its air pollution problems, but its huge demand will have a growing effect on pricing. We look at the business of one of the biggest layers in the natural gas industry, Qatargas, to understand more about how this supplier is growing in importance.
Oil for use in transportation looks set to at the end of the 2020s and then drop away thanks to the increasing number of electric vehicles on our roads. At peak, demand for oil for transportation is expected to hit 23 million barrels per day. We look at BP’s major oil project in the UK, Clair Ridge, where production will eventually hit 120,000 barrels per day.
Carbon capacity is at 93% so adding more fossil fuels to the global energy mix is not an option. This is forcing organisations to rethink their exploration activity and putting pressure on technology developers to come up with novel methods of turning these fuels into non-carbon emitting products. We turn to Belgium, and Fluxys, to understand more about how this business is making the most of all opportunities to connect power across Europe.
As we see from a leading coal mining organisation in South Africa, demand for coal may have peaked. It hit its high in 2014, and as such, the company is looking at alternative business, such as renewables and water projects, to ensure a sustainable future. China and India are weening themselves off coal, but the fuel certainly remains important for powering the planet.
2019 will be a landmark year for the energy industry as we find out how committed organisations really are to becoming more environmentally friendly and less reliant on traditional fossil fuels.