Oil companies focusing on being oil companies
Persistent demand and the importance of the bottom line bring hydrocarbon investment back into focus
From its earliest days in the mid-19th century, oil and gas has always been an industry of trends. Most often, the trends develop due to new resource discoveries, technological advancement or, as we have seen in 2023, in response to evolving market pressures. One of the most remarkable takeaways from this year’s Ceraweek conference was a shifting trend in the messaging by industry senior executives who spoke at the event, which took place in Houston in early March. The messages from big company execs in previous years had gone out of their way to focus on ESG scores, emissions reduction and allocating more capital to investments in green projects outside of their firms’ core competencies. Ho

Also in this section
21 February 2025
While large-scale planned LNG schemes in sub-Saharan Africa have faced fresh problems, FLNG projects are stepping into that space
20 February 2025
Greater social mobility means increased global demand for refined fuels and petrochemical products, with Asia leading the way in the expansion of refining capacity
19 February 2025
The EU would do well to ease its gas storage requirements to avoid heavy purchase costs this summer, with the targets having created market distortion while giving sellers a significant advantage over buyers
18 February 2025
Deliveries to China decline by around 1m b/d from move to curb crude exports to Shandong port, putting Iran under further economic pressure