Oil & Gas
Fuel scarcity
For those of us who lived through the 1970s , it feels like déjà vu all over again . Inflation , economic malaise , East-West tensions , energy shortages … The relatively benign global economy of the last 30 years has given way to an altogether bleaker outlook . The problems started well before the Russian invasion of Ukraine . As the Covid menace receded , release of pent-up demand caused the price of oil , gas and other primary materials to soar , a trend that was intensified by the war . Moreover , President Biden had already curbed investment in fossil fuels and vowed to end subsidies . As a result of all these pressures , Americans are now having to pay 50 % more to fill their tanks than this time last year . Meanwhile , Europeans are trying to wean themselves off Russian imports . However , Russia is resisting sanctions by selling more oil and gas to China and India . Everywhere , the post-Covid surge in combination with the war has caused a 1970s-style rise in energy prices , depressing the economy and causing inflation . Renewable energy investment has been growing fast but has not yet reached the point where it can replace the missing fossil fuels .
Oil & gas by region
Russia There has been a spate of disinvestment in Russian oil & gas , including LNG . BP , Shell , ExxonMobil and Equinor are among the companies withdrawing from future investments . Meanwhile Germany has paused the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline , and gas technology specialist Linde has suspended collaboration on new projects . Although these withdrawals seem not to have made much of an impact so far , in
The Matapal gas project off Trinidad and Tobago , owned by BP ( 70 %) and Repsol ( 30 %). It came on-line in September 2021 .
A solar-powered well pad from Shell in the Permian Basin , USA .
The Manifa field is designed to produce Arabian heavy crude oil , sour gas , and hydrocarbon condensate .
Did you know ?
• The 24 Hours of Le Mans racing rally ( 11-12 June 2022 ) used 100 % biofuel supplied by TotalEnergies .
• In 2021 , 144 billion cubic metres ( bcm ) of gas was flared at upstream oil and gas facilities , the equivalent of nearly 400 million tonnes of carbon dioxide ( CO2 ) ( 1 ).
• The EU ’ s sustainable finance strategy includes a “ green taxonomy ” which classes certain energy sources as green . This taxonomy has sparked a controversy as the EU has decided to include natural gas and nuclear as “ green ” energy types . Mr Putin must be rubbing his hands with glee .
18 Valve World August 2022 www . valve-world . net