Equinor backs oil and gas for longer

The Norwegian heavyweight is more optimistic about hydrocarbons than BP. But that may be driven by circumstance

Equinor released its annual long-term global energy scenarios in November, just weeks after counterpart BP. The two firms’ outlooks appear to be driving their corporate strategies—but it is also perhaps the case that the latter is impacting the former. Both companies are shifting gears to accommodate the transition to lower-carbon energy, as reflected at least to some degree in all six of their energy scenarios. But BP is planning to upgrade renewables in its energy portfolio, and downgrade oil and gas, much quicker than Equinor, reflecting relative respective optimism and pessimism across its three scenarios. According to Spencer Dale, chief economist of BP, when releasing Energy Outlook 20