Oil firms ready to pick up the infrastructure divestment pace
Pipelines, storage facilities and processing plants could replace non-advantaged production as prime candidates
Oil and gas producing firms create the most value by exploring for, developing and producing hydrocarbons. Internal rates of return (IRRs) far in excess of 20pc are the norm for successful upstream projects. Indeed, one of the challenges of the pivot to renewables and the lower-carbon future has been that these sort of investments do not generate anywhere near the same sort of returns—leading firms such as BP, Total and Norway’s Equinor to pioneer models where their spend is almost seed money to attract other investors and leverage their initial outlay to a higher IRR. So, it is not surprising that infrastructure assets in the portfolios of producers, both IOCs and NOCs, are now coming unde
Also in this section
9 March 2026
Petroleum Economist analysis sees increases in output from Saudi Arabia, Venezuela and Kazakhstan among others before region’s murky descent
9 March 2026
Energy sanctions are becoming an increasingly prominent tool of US foreign policy, with the country’s growth in oil and gas production allowing it to impose pressure on rivals without jeopardising its own energy security or that of its allies, argues Matthew McManus, a visiting fellow at the National Center for Energy Analytics
6 March 2026
The March 2026 issue of Petroleum Economist is out now!
6 March 2026
After Europe’s rapid buildout of floating LNG import capacity, Exmar CEO Carl-Antoine Saverys says future growth in floating gas infrastructure will increasingly be driven by developing markets as lower prices, rising energy demand and the need to replace coal unlock new opportunities for unconventional and tailor-made solutions






