Quickfire visit to the Economist Sustainability Week

Earlier this morning, The Oilholic had the pleasure of attending Economist Impact's 9th Annual Sustainability Week in London, albeit briefly, given commitments elsewhere in what is turning out to be a very hectic March. 

In a day packed with interesting sessions, three of which this blogger found time to attend, the expected conjecture was that there aren't any viable commercial models to leave things as they are in a world facing climate change. So, should you buy that supposition, the next inevitable question is how to finance the energy transition? To this end, an afternoon session - Financing net zero: assessing and accelerating green finance - really stood out. 

Some of the profound discussion slants included - how are companies building on the progress of previous years and what strategies are they implementing to boost the deployment of green finance further? What kinds of green investment funds are helping to "finance an inclusive climate transition"?

The panel included Heather Buchanan, Chief Executive and Co-founder, Bankers for Net Zero, Nicki Harrison, Director, Sustainable Finance, Europe, Environmental Defense Fund Europe, Evelina Olago, Managing Director of Client and Strategy, Just Climate, and, of course, The Economist's very own global energy and climate innovation editor Vijay Vaitheeswaran. 

There was plenty of interesting chatter among the panellists about asset managers making informed decisions based on data, predictive analytics, IIoT, and all the rest, as well as genuinely linking transition finance to greener pathways, including green bonds and equity investments. 

But all is not plain sailing, and quite frankly no one expects it to be so. For starters corporate balance sheets are stretched. We are in a high interest rate climate, and will likely remain so near-term. Both will trigger caution when it comes investing petrodollars towards green causes. Private equity players - typically keen backers of viable cleantech forays - are also holding back given the uncertain climate.

However, products and services aimed at decarbonisation continue to strengthen, said the panellists. But they also made one key observation that chimes with market intel obtained by the Oilholic - the anti-ESG backlash (or movement if you wish) has indeed had a chilling effect of late on financing greener initiatives. 

That is particularly true in the US in an election year that is going to be a rematch between incumbent Joe Biden and the man he ousted from the White House - Donald Trump. Therefore, a lot may depend on the post-November discourse, and a possible Trump presidency could materially alter the green finance landscape both in the US and abroad. 

And on that thought, it's time to say goodbye. There are two energy site visits coming up plus the little matter of CERAWeek in Houston. So more musings to follow soon. Keep reading, keep it here, keep it 'crude'! 

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© Gaurav Sharma 2024. Photo: Panel on financing net zero: assessing and accelerating green finance, at the Economist Impact Sustainability Week in London, UK on March 5, 2024. © Gaurav Sharma 2024. 

Connected energy solutions at AVEVA World 2023

The Oilholic is delighted to be back in San Francisco for AVEVA World 2023 - the annual client fixture for technology consulting and industrial software company AVEVA. It's also the company's first major event since being taken over by Schneider Electric in January 2023.

A content packed start to the conference, being held at San Francisco's Moscone Center, has seen wide ranging discussions on connected solutions in the industrial software space, cloud-based applications and how the energy industry can turn volatility and challenges over meeting sustainability targets into opportunities. Afterall, the sector is pursuing a deep transformation to become more sustainable as well as ensure that the world's needs are met. Technology provides many, if not all, of the answers.

Kicking off proceedings, Caspar Herzberg, CEO of AVEVA, talked of exploring use cases for a sustainable industrial ecosystem - one that's connected and utilizes the power of big data and a seemingly unlimited world of data analytics. And of course, placing the company's platform agnostic AVEVA Connect product suite at the heart of this connected industrial ecosystem. 

"Those that master this art [of a connected, sustainable industrial ecosystem] will outperform other systems," Herzberg said in his keynote. The AVEVA boss' pitch is a clear and simple one to energy, heavy industrials, mining, metals, companies, and indeed other sectors - tie in process efficiencies, improved throughout and sustainability, take learnings from data using AI solutions, and the results would become evident.

Those results include energy efficiency pathways that are 20% better and would invariably help in lowering carbon emissions. One enabling solution is digital twin technology. Read more about it and this blogger's conversation with AVEVA's Head of Research and Innovation Simon Bennett on Forbes.

There's more to come from AVEVA World 2023 - an event Herzberg himself described on Tuesday as one of the largest gathering of industrial software professionals and specialists in the world. That appears to be around 2,500 attendees and counting.

Away from the event, here is the Oilholic's latest piece for The Motley Fool on BP's share price direction, and how significant the appointment of its next CEO could be. That's all for now folks. Keep reading, keep it here, keep it 'crude'!

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© Gaurav Sharma 2023. Photo: Caspar Herzberg, CEO of AVEVA, speaks at AVEVA World 2023 at the Moscone Center, San Francisco, US on October 24, 2023. © Gaurav Sharma 2023. 

On crude demand & the OPEC seminar’s conclusion

On a calmer second and concluding day of the OPEC Seminar, participants and deliberators' thoughts moved away from obsessing about the oil price and market stability, to pragmatic discussions on a more just and equitable energy transition. And, of course, to the energy sustainability trilemma (sustainability, security and affordability) - i.e., how focusing on one aspect at the cost of the other could have - in the words of many participants - "disastrous" consequences.

Of course, many spokespersons representing developing world producers at the gathering felt they need no lectures from the developed nations; and had every right to tap into the wealth of their hydrocarbons to improve their economic fortunes. No doubt an emotive subject for many, especially since no one can convincingly call time on hydrocarbons anytime soon.

The way the Oilholic views it – human mobility, mainly ground transportation, is unquestionably and increasingly heading in the direction of electric mobility. However, there are no obvious solutions or substitutes for petrochemicals, for aviation, for heavy mining and industry, for the cosmetics value chain, and many other facets of the global economy. So renewable energy, and electric mobility are the low hanging fruits, but what and where next, and how fast? 

BP’s Boss Bernard Looney told the seminar: “Oil and natural gas will continue be a part of the world’s energy mix for several decades to come.” How then do you balance investments in hydrocarbons versus the capex involved in moving away from them, at what pace, and using what proportionalities?

For instance, as the United Arab Emirates' Energy Minister Suhail Al Mazrouei pointed out – current
global oil demand is north of 100 million barrels per day (bpd), and every year the energy industry needs to invest to prevent the depletion of around 8 million bpd.

OPEC puts the figure at $12.1 trillion to 2045 or $500 billion per year. Projection figures can vary from forecaster to forecaster. It's not the amount of money that’s the subject of the most heated debates both in Vienna and beyond, it’s what approach to take over the coming decades. For that there is neither a unified approach nor any sort of magic wand solution. And so the debate rages on, as it did at the OPEC Seminar, and as COP28 approaches with United Arab Emirates, a major hydrocarbon producer being the host nation (as were coincidentally the last two – Egypt and Scotland). So plenty to ponder over. 

And on that note, it’s time to bid goodbye to Vienna. Just before one takes your leave, here’s the Oilholic’s latest Forbes missive on how/why Saudi Arabia remains committed to unilateral cuts, and why the oil price isn’t quite firing up. More analysis to follow over the airwaves in the coming days on what was discussed here, but that’s all for now. Keep reading, keep it crude! 

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© Gaurav Sharma 2023. Photo © Gaurav Sharma, July 7, 2023.