Comments on the Energy Market From OceanBased Perpetual Energy CEO Nasser M.N. Alshemaimry
My Prologue: How oil companies are changing their interest, their agenda, their plans and their future to catch up with the pendulum of changing times.
Giant oil companies, especially the American and European oil companies like Mobil, Chevron, Total, Shell, BP and ExxonMobil, the 800-pound gorilla in the neighborhood, are suffering in more ways than one. Sales and consequently profits all are in a clear and sharp decline. Recently, it became clear that ExxonMobil tried to persuade Chevron to merge.
The French energy giant Total made an important statement that it has pledged to pump billions of dollars of new investments in renewable energy sectors and resources, starting now until 2050. Meanwhile, to prove that this option is Total’s new strategic approach that determines its identity, it is changing its name to Total Energies. Shareholders will vote on the name change in May.
But Total is not the only giant oil company that has decided to switch from an oil and gas operation to an energy company in the very broad sense of the word.
The oil and gas sector is trying to keep pace with a market that is changing, reshaping, developing and fluctuating among companies suffering from the interruption of the shale oil wave. Then there are those companies that are stuck trying to maintain a very large amount of existing business in the fossil fuel system, while not neglecting popular pressures and continuous public calls to raise investment rates and accompanying pledges in various and similar areas of clean energy.
Total does not face this kind of heavy pressure alone. There is also the British Petroleum Company–now known as BP—which changed its name to Beyond Petroleum (BP). Its shareholders are now calling for it to invest in renewable energy companies.
Indeed, oil companies are starting heavily to become involved in renewable energy, where the fair value remains the main driver when the oil companies conclude deals. They’re investing in renewable asset to achieve renewable goals to mitigate the risk of the future of fossil fuel.
Oil companies are facing new and different challenges in the oil sector, in which the renewable energy component has become a vital element in the calculation of competition and market share in light of the ambiguity of the lifespan of the oil commodity and the decline in demand for oil.
My Epilogue: In this Dawning Reality of Renewable Energy Oil Companies Must Lead, Follow or Get Out of The Way!