Outlook 2022: Profiting from the transition

The shift to lower-carbon energy may disrupt legacy business models but will also present major opportunities for many oil and gas companies

The energy world is in transition. Following the Cop26 climate conference, it seems the industry is bending the emissions curve, with an average global warming of less than 2°C by 2100 in sight. There are, however, two particular aspects emerging from the debate that seem contradictory at first sight: the impossibility of full electrification of our economy; and the imperative to decarbonise our energy system. The first point means oil and gas is not going away anytime soon. The coronavirus-induced demand collapse is almost over, with global oil demand surpassing 100mn bl/d. Note that this is a full recovery, even without jet fuel demand returning to 2019 levels. The IEA provides a range of