The end is nigh for oil
Fossil fuel merchants including oil companies are living on borrowed time, argues a new book
Transition is energy's new buzzword. Benign as it sounds, for oil companies and many utilities it means the game is up. Or will be. Sometime. A consensus about when hasn't emerged. But predictions of the end are legion these days. Dieter Helm's new book, Burn Out, is the latest. It's long on hunches, short on detail. Helm's thesis is straightforward. Three "predictable surprises" are in store: the end of the commodity super-cycle and the fall in oil and gas prices over the long term; decarbonisation; and technological revolution. The oil companies that dominate today are doomed, though they don't realise it. Their businesses simply can't exist alongside the climate imperative. There is a "ba
Also in this section
2 April 2026
Alongside a rapid continued build-out of renewables, China’s latest five-year plan stresses the value of domestic hydrocarbon production for energy security and calls for increased Russian gas imports
2 April 2026
The government is taking important steps to revive domestic production, lift investment and benefit from the geopolitical crisis even if more needs to be done in the longer term
1 April 2026
Golden Pass’s startup offers QatarEnergy a timely boost but may also force a difficult choice between honouring disrupted contracts and capitalising on soaring spot LNG prices
1 April 2026
It is not a case of if or when, but the length and magnitude of economic damage from elevated oil prices
