Media missives from ADIPEC 2024

With ADIPEC 2024 drawing to a close on November 7, the Oilholic capped a fascinating and engaging week out in Abu Dhabi by hosting four pivotal industry panel sessions at the event on subjects ranging from climate finance to hydrogen markets in Asia.

Yours truly also hit the airwaves to discuss the wider energy market, impact of the US elections, an incoming Donald Trump administration and the various developments at ADIPEC 2024 which attracted over 200,000 people this year. 

These included broadcasting calls with the BBC, WION, Energy Connects and more, with this blogger's week also peppered with plenty of missives via the keyboard for Forbes, and of course this blog.

All blog entries for each ADIPEC may be found here. And here are selected Forbes copies in chronological order based on soundbites and insight from the event. 

• ADNOC Boss Urges Energy Peers To Fully Embrace Power Of AI, November 4, 2024
• Donald Trump’s Presidency Will Likely Boost U.S. Oil Output In 2025, November 6, 2024
• Strait Of Hormuz: Why Iran Wont Harm Critical Oil Shipping Route, November 7, 2024
• British Energy Majors May Lean More On Oil And Gas To Boost Profits, November 8, 2024
• New U.K. Tax Rates Are Hammering North Sea Oil And Gas Drilling, November 12, 2024

That's a wrap for this year's ADIPEC. Keep reading, keep it here, keep it 'crude'! 

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© Gaurav Sharma 2024. Photo: Gaurav Sharma at ADIPEC 2024 studio in Abu Dhabi, UAE on November 4, 2024 © dmgevents /APCO Worldwide. 

ADIPEC Days III & IV: Connecting minds. Transforming Energy

Over the course of Wednesday and Thursday - days III & IV - of ADIPEC 2024 that put us on the home stretch towards the conclusion of global event, conversations turned to a collaborative transformation of the energy mix. 

It was acknowledged that a blend of human ingenuity, finance and technology, with conducive inter-governmental policies would go a long way. 

Hence, event participants got to grips with how to make it happen along with flagging some tangible examples of successful private investments, public-private partnerships and international collaboration. 

Familiar industry subjects were also under the microscope on both days - including but not limited to - stepping up efforts on achieving global carbon neutrality, crucial role of natural gas in a future energy mix, infrastructure for alternative fuels for transportation at ports and airports, tackling methane emissions, and emerging hydrogen energy solutions. 

Speaking of hydrogen, yours truly hosted a panel on Day III titled 'Asia's role in defining the hydrogen market' with panellists - The Right Honourable Abang Johari Tun Openg, Premier of Sarawak, Malaysia, Hiroshi Matsuda, Chief Regional Officer, EMEA, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Koji Yamamoto, SVP, JOGMEC, Shoichi Kaganoi, SVP, Hydrogen & CCUS Development, INPEX and Karine Boissy-Rousseau, VP Green Gases, TotalEnergies.

We discussed how Asian countries are positioning themselves within the global hydrogen economy, focusing on their advances in production technologies and infrastructure, and the geopolitical implications of their evolving roles as both importers and exporters in the hydrogen market.

Afterall, as Asian nations start to configure their hydrogen markets, the region provides a compelling case for the development of new technologies to produce lower cost hydrogen, as well as investments in a rapid expansion of enabling infrastructure for international hydrogen trade.

And the Oilholic brought his ADIPEC 2024 engagements to a close with a panel on the 'strategic role of NGOs in unlocking energy investment for emerging economies' on the final day of the event.  

Eminent panellists for this session included Maha Attia, Head of the Strategic Planning Committee and Assistant Vice-Chairman for Foreign Trade at the Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS), Madadh MacLaine, Secretary General, Zero Emissions Ship Technology Association, Huda Al Houqani, Director, Abu Dhabi Sustainability Group (ADSG) and Michel Abi Saab, General Manager, Emerge.

We discussed how non-governmental organisations (NGOs) are fostering energy sector growth in developing countries by overcoming regulatory and infrastructural barriers, and how strategic collaboration with NGOs can unlock significant investment potential in emerging markets.

By collaborating with governments and industry, NGOs help to refine policies and showcase scalable clean energy projects, making emerging markets more attractive to energy companies and financial institutions. These strategic partnerships not only advance sustainable development but also enable organisations to navigate complex regulations, secure funding, and confidently enter high-growth markets.

Finally, global events like ADIPEC cannot of operate in isolation from international developments, none bigger than the 2024 US presidential election that saw Donald Trump reelected. News of the return of Trump reverberated midway through the week-long event. 

Goes without saying, his presidency will likely have a profound impact on global energy markets, as summed up by yours truly in a Forbes piece. And on that note its time to bid goodbye to Abu Dhabi folks, until next year. So keep reading, keep it here, keep it 'crude'! 

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© Gaurav Sharma 2024. Photo I: Energy AI exhibition at ADIPEC 2024. Photo II: Gaurav Sharma hosting a panel on hydrogen markets in Asia at ADIPEC 2024 on 06.11.24. (Courtesy: dmgevents) Photo III: Gaurav Sharma hosting a panel on the strategic role of NGOs in unlocking energy investment for emerging economies at ADIPEC 2024 on 07.11.24. (Courtesy: dmgevents)

ADIPEC Days I & II: All about 'Energy^AI'

The first two days of ADIPEC 2024 in Abu Dhabi have whizzed by with one theme dominating proceedings - the deployment of AI as a service. 

In whichever direction you look around the venue - ADNEC Centre - you can't miss signage flagging it. 

At the opening ceremony on Monday, ADNOC's CEO and the UAE's Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber said the state-operated energy company will deploy autonomous AI for the very first time and called on his peers to embrace it too for the benefit of the wider energy industry.

ADNOC's move - dubbed Energy^AI or 'energy to the power of AI' will be in partnership with government-backed G42, AiQ and Microsoft. Here's The Oilholic's full report for Forbes on Al Jaber's remarks and ADNOC's wider plans. ADIPEC itself has allocated 40,000 square feet of exhibition space showcasing AI, quantum computing and the latest in robotics. 

Technology driven energy transition efforts were variously revisited throughout the day, just as many big oil CEOs including BP's Murray Auchincloss and Shell's Wael Sawn highlighted market and geopolitical complexities they are operationally anxious about as well as a return to the basics of traditional oil and gas exploration and production to firm up their bottomline. 

Monday also saw several ministers speak at ADIPEC including the UAE's energy Suhail Al Mazroui and India's minister for petroleum and natural gas Hardeep Singh Puri, as did OPEC Secretary General Haitham Al Ghais, fresh from the crude producers' group's decision to postpone its planned production increase by a month. Most were united in their belief that oil and gas will continue to play a role as part of a wider energy mix for decades. 

The 2024 round of ADIPEC features conference several streams new and old including - its Strategic Conference, Hydrogen Conference, Downstream Technical Conference, Decarbonisation Conference, Maritime &  Logistics Conference, Digitalisation & Technology Conference, Technical Conference, Finance & Investment Conference and Voices of Tomorrow. 

Yours truly kick-off his ADIPEC 2024 journey by hosting a panel titled: 'Climate finance: The role that of the energy and finance sectors' with panellists Lina Osman, Managing Director & Head, Sustainable Finance - Africa and MENAP at Standard Chartered, Bruce Johnson, Director, Corporate Finance and Treasury at Masdar, and Debnath Mukhopadhyay, CFO of TruAlt Bioenergy.

In a riveting session, we all discussed how the energy transition represents a trillion-dollar investment opportunity for investors and how the energy and finance sectors can work more closely together to accelerate the flow of investments in clean energy projects to match investor risk return expectations.

The Oilholic also took time out for a BBC Business Today interview with Sally Bundock to discuss the goings-on at ADIPEC, OPEC's decision to postpone its production cuts, state of the oil market and climate finance. 

We discussed current oil market permutations, impact of the US election, how a possible protectionist White House may impact crude demand in 2025 and why climate finance and investing in energy AI / technology is a major part of the discourse at this year's ADIPEC, and as a potentially politically charged COP29 approaches. 

Tuesday, Day II, brought more discussions on sector innovation to the fore, and a renewed emphasis on why the shift to low-carbon energy was imperative in a gradual march to net zero, and the critical role governments of the world can play in facilitating this. 

Of course, the event saw divergent views on whether this should be achieved via taxation, subsidies or be left to the free markets. Or perhaps a combination of all three. Technology occupied centrestage here too, with several industry participants outlining the various ways in which AI, advanced analytics, quantum computing and IIoT can make a difference in helping the energy sector as well as the wider global industrial complex discover a low - to - ultimately zero carbon future. 

For his part, the Oilholic hosted his second panel of ADIPEC 2024 titled 'Standardised sustainability reporting: building energy transition trust to boost investment' first thing on Day II with panellists Karim Arslan, Executive Director, Green & Sustainable Finance Originator, Green & Sustainable Hub, Natixis Corporate and Investment Banking, Semih Ozkan, Executive Director, EMEA Energy, Power, Renewables, Metals & Mining, J.P. Morgan and Don Dimitrievich, Senior Managing Director and Portfolio Manager for Energy Infrastructure Credit, Nuveen.

We discussed the critical subject of how standardised sustainability reporting could provide the key to boosting investment into the energy transition through higher levels of investor insight and confidence. And here's to more insightful dialogues over the days to follow. That's all for now folks. There's plenty more to come from ADIPEC 2024. So keep reading, keep it here, keep it 'crude'! 

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© Gaurav Sharma 2024. Photo I: Energy AI signage at ADNEC, Abu Dhabi - the venue of ADIPEC 2024. Photo II: AI display at ADNOC exhibition booth at ADIPEC 2024. Photo III: Gaurav Sharma host a panel on climate finance at ADIPEC 2024 on 04.11.24. (Courtesy: dmgevents) Photo IV: Gaurav Sharma on BBC World Business Today on 04.11.24 at 9:50 GST. (Courtesy: BBC) 

ADIPEC 2024 sessions to be hosted by yours truly

The Oilholic is delighted to be back in Abu Dhabi, UAE for ADIPEC 2024, the world's largest energy conference and exhibition of its kind, being held here from November 4 to 7. Yours truly will be holding four panel sessions at the event with distinguished industry thought leaders. 

Please do join if you can for some fantastic and insightful industry dialogues. Here are the details of the sessions:

Monday, November 4, 2024 @ 15:30 GST

Climate finance: the role of the energy and finance sectors

With:

- Lina Osman, Managing Director & Head, Sustainable Finance - Africa and MENAP, Standard Chartered

- Bruce Johnson, Director, Corporate Finance and Treasury, Masdar 

- Jassim AlSane, Co-head of Investment Banking MENA, Goldman Sachs 

- Debnath Mukhopadhyay, CFO, TruAlt Bioenergy

(Click image to enlarge)

Tuesday, November 5, 2024 @10:00 GST

Standardised sustainability reporting: building energy transition trust to boost investment 

With:

- Karim Arslan, Executive Director, Green & Sustainable Finance Originator, Green & Sustainable Hub, Natixis Corporate and Investment Banking

- Semih Ozkan, Executive Director, EMEA Energy, Power, Renewables, Metals & Mining, J.P. Morgan

- Don Dimitrievich, Senior Managing Director and Portfolio Manager for Energy Infrastructure Credit, Nuveen

(Click image to enlarge)

Wednesday, November 6, 2024 @14:30 GST

Asia’s role in defining the hydrogen market

With:

- The Right Honourable Abang Johari Tun Openg, Premier of Sarawak, Malaysia

- Hiroshi Matsuda, Chief Regional Officer, EMEA, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries 

- Koji Yamamoto, SVP, JOGMEC 

- Shoichi Kaganoi, SVP, Hydrogen & CCUS Development, INPEX

- Karine Boissy-Rousseau, VP Green Gases, TotalEnergies

(Click image to enlarge)

Thursday, November 7, 2024 @11:45 GST

The strategic role of NGOs in unlocking energy investment for emerging economies

With:

- Maha Attia, Assistant Vice Chairman for Foreign Trade, Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS) 

- Madadh MacLaine, Secretary General, Zero Emissions Ship Technology Association (ZESTAs) 

- Huda Al Houqani, Director, Abu Dhabi Sustainability Group (ADSG)

- Michel Abi Saab, General Manager, Emerge

(Click image to enlarge)

Keep reading, keep it here, keep it 'crude'! 

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To email: journalist_gsharma@yahoo.co.uk  

© Gaurav Sharma 2024. Photo © Gastech / dmgevents 2024. 

Speaking and moderating at ADIPEC 2024

Delighted to announce that yours truly will be moderating and speaking at ADIPEC 2024 - the world's largest energy conference and exhibition - in Abu Dhabi, UAE, from November 4 to 7. Explore the event's program touching on critical energy issues, latest technological developments, and energy transition through groundbreaking innovation, visionary leadership and action here.

And more on the Oilholic's panels and sessions here. 

Looking forward to the deliberations, meeting thought leaders, fellow industry professionals and colleagues. Join, if you can, for some fantastic industry exchanges and networking in Abu Dhabi.

Keep reading, keep it here, keep it 'crude'! 

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To email: journalist_gsharma@yahoo.co.uk  

© Gaurav Sharma 2024. Digital event banner courtesy of dmgevents.

Are we back to fundamentals as oil prices tank further?

For the second successive session this week oil prices have slid further and faster. After Monday's declines of over 2%, Tuesday has logged fresh intraday drops of as high as 5%. 

At the time of writing this post, The Oilholic noted that Brent and WTI front month futures contracts had breached their respective $74 and $70 per barrel floors. Headwinds are in fact gathering momentum and yet lower prices may follow. 

Over the weekend, China's promised economic stimulus underwhelmed the market with its vagueness. Then came a revelation that OPEC - deemed the most bullish of the crude oil demand growth forecasters - had revised its prediction lower for 2024 below 2 million bpd. The IEA's prediction is below 1 million bpd. 

And if that wasn't bearish enough, media reports, led by The Washington Post, also suggested on Tuesday that Israel may not attack Iran's oil facilities as feared. So has the risk premium effectively decoupled and are we now back to market fundamentals driving the oil price again? Largely yes in an oversupplied market. But then again not a complete yes yet, as its contingent upon what Israel may or may not do next! 

That said, outlandish $100 per barrel oil price predictions can once again take a back seat. That's all for the moment folks! Keep reading, keep it here, keep it 'crude'! 

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© Gaurav Sharma 2024. Photo: Oil production site. © jplenio / Pixabay, 2018. 

Risk weighting oil in the current climate

The last few weeks have been relentless in terms of geopolitical developments and their impact on the oil market - albeit a somewhat oversupplied one with plenty of barrels to more than meet global demand. 

From the lows of September last seen in December 2021, the Brent front-month contract has ended the current trading week posting its highest weekly rise in almost two years. The reason is a bit more complicated than yet another escalation of tensions in the Middle East.

On Tuesday, Iran hit Israel with a barrage of ballistic missiles in response to its "aggressive acts," including the killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in Lebanon.

With speculation rife about Israel's impending response to Iran, Brent futures stemmed their decline towards $70 per barrels and started inching up towards $80. The inching quickly turned climbing on Thursday after US President Joe Biden decided to make an "off the cuff" remark about discussing with Israel if it could go after Iran's oil facilities. 

Four key ones spring to the Oilholic's mind as yours truly noted in an article for Forbes. These sites may well have a target on their back but any potential Israeli action does not need to be spelt out by a sitting US President 4 weeks from a presidential election. 

Cue a 5.5% spike in Brent futures on Thursday, followed by another 2% today, bringing prices closer to $80. That prices are still below the $85 level seen at the start of the third quarter last year, as well as earlier this year, is down to the fact there is plenty of crude in the market at a time of uncertain demand. 

So the question is where do we go from here? In that respect, things are pretty much as they were at the start of the week when the Oilholic was interviewed by Reuters, i.e., risk weighting for front-month oil futures is currently contingent upon what Israel might do next and if there is a direct confrontation with Iran.

It is now (almost) guaranteed that such a confrontation is now not a question if but when, as yours truly said on subsequent back-to-back BBC News interviews following Iran's attack on Israel on Tuesday and Biden's astounding intervention on Thursday. 

Now, if its a case of simple mathematics, Iran's 1.7 million barrels per day (bpd) in oil exports, mainly to China, can be taken care off by the rest of the market should they be knocked offline by Israel. Because as things stand, the crude market will likely end this year and start the next with a surplus.

However, should the conflict broaden to engulf the Gulf and hit exports from Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain and Qatar, as well as hold-ups in the Strait of Hormuz, we would almost certainly be looking at an upward lurch to $100 Brent prices. Where this goes is anybody's guess and all eyes are now on Israel. Well that's all for now folks! Keep reading, keep it here, keep it 'crude'! 

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© Gaurav Sharma 2024. Photo I: Oil pump jack building block model at the AVEVA World 2023 Conference, Moscone Center, San Francisco, US. © Gaurav Sharma. Photo II: Gaurav Sharma on BBC News on October 3, 2024 © BBC. 

Media missives from Gastech 2024

With Gastech 2024 drawing to a close on September 20, the Oilholic capped a fascinating and engaging week in Houston by hosting two pivotal industry fireside chats with H.E. Hardeep Singh Puri, Minister of Petroleum & Natural Gas, India and Chris Ashton, CEO of Worley.

And it was wonderful moderating multiple panel sessions on subjects ranging from harnessing the potential of natural gas for powering AI to solutions for the decarbonization of the global transport complex and climatetech finance.

Yours truly also hit the airwaves to discuss the energy market and developments at the conference. The final broadcasting call before departing was with the BBC, with this blogger's week out in Houston peppered with plenty of other missives via the keyboard for Forbes, and of course via this blog.

All blog entries for each Gastech may be found here. And here are selected Forbes copies in chronological order based on soundbites and insight from the event. 

• Energy Bosses Demand Clear And Consistent U.S. Policies On Natural Gas, September 18, 2024.
• India’s Energy Source Shifting Agility Will Define Its Transition, Says Oil Minister, September 20, 2024.
• UK’s Cleantech And Green Energy Focused ‘Wealth Fund’ Is Anything But, September 24, 2024.

And that's a wrap for Gastech. Keep reading, keep it here, keep it 'crude'! 

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© Gaurav Sharma 2024. Photo: Gaurav Sharma on BBC News on September 18, 2024 © BBC. 

Gastech Days III & IV: Harnessing the power of natural gas and climatetech

Over the course of Thursday and Friday - days III & IV - of Gastech 2024 that put us on the home stretch towards the conclusion of global event, many of the conversations revolved around climatetech and harnessing the power of natural gas as a destination fuel in the world's march to a low to a zero carbon future. 

An action packed agenda was underpinned by several movers and shakers in the natural gas space especially LNG terminal developers and operators from Venture Global LNG to Mexico Pacific. 

Meanwhile, energy major Shell emphatically declared its intentions of continuing to expand its global LNG portfolio predicated in its belief of an expected industry growth of 50% by 2040. It also noted that North America's total upcoming LNG exports alone could account for around 30% of global demand by 2030. 

Many thought leaders also echoed each others' belief that decarbonizing industry and transportation would involve natural gas in close step with emerging technologies. Yours truly hosted panels on both transport sector decarbonization as well as climatetech on Thursday. 

The first of these was titled - Decarbonizing heavy transportation: Collaborations to address the acceleration of climate technology solutions from development to deployment. The panellists included Sukhmal Jain, Director (Marketing) & Board Member, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited, Yoki Firnandi, CEO, PT Pertamina International Shipping, Meg Gentle, Executive Director, HIF Global and Mark S. Brownstein, SVP, Environmental Defense Fund. 

Decarbonizing heavy transport, specifically shipping, aviation and HGV remains a key challenge in addressing climate change. 

The panellists discussed how to steer the transport industry to net zero by 2050, robust strategies that will be needed to stimulate supportive policies, innovation in technologies and collaboration across the value chain to drive the adoption of low- and zero-carbon fuels.

We also discussed some of the barriers to investment in zero-emissions fuelling infrastructure, including biofuels, hydrogen and clean ammonia, which can pave the way for achieving their long-term supply and the climate benefits of decarbonization and some of the incentives that may be required. 

Next yours truly's attention turned to climatetech via a panel titled - Fostering greater climate technology innovation, deployment, and scale across the value chain. Eminent panellists included - Mahdi Aladel, CEO, Aramco Ventures, Paula Gant, President & CEO, GTI Energy and Vikas Dhole,  Vikas Dhole, GM of Project Management, AspenTech. 

Climatetech innovation holds the key to ensuring a significant decarbonization of energy systems and GHG emissions reductions. 

The panel deliberated how governments, the energy value chain and the emerging climate technology market overcome challenges related to scalability, matching market demand with new energy supply and a lack of the workforce skills needed to drive further adoption and deployment of low-carbon technologies.  

As proceedings began to wind down late on Wednesday and early Thursday, attention turned to passing the baton on to next year's Gastech destination - Milan - which was revealed as the next host city for Gastech 2025. 

Simon Ford, Vice President, Gastech, dmgevents, said this year's event had seen participation of attendees from over 150 countries, including 50 official government delegations. 

The occasion was marked a lovely launch evening party before everyone bid goodbye to H-Town following an insightful and fantastic energy event that will live long in the industry's memory. Well that's all from Gastech 2024. See you at Gastech 2025 in Milan. Keep reading, keep it here, keep it 'crude'! 

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© Gaurav Sharma 2024. Photo I: The George R. Brown Convention Center, Houston, Texas, U.S. - Venue of Gastech 2024. Photo II: Gastech 2024 Strategic Panel on Decarbonizing heavy transportation: Collaborations to address the acceleration of climate technology solutions from development to deployment moderated by Gaurav Sharma. Photo III: Gastech 2025 Launch Reception at The Corinthian, Houston, Texas, US. © Gaurav Sharma 2024. 

Gastech Days I & II: Energy transformation through innovation

The first two days of Gastech 2024 have flown by with talking points aplenty and a who's-who of the energy industry in Houston at the city's George R. Brown Convention Center. 

Former US President George W. Bush got things going on Monday night by highlighting his state and country's achievements in the global energy sphere at the Gastech pre-event gala dinner. 

The state of Texas is the US' top crude oil and natural gas producing state. It also has the nation's highest refining capacity by some distance and remains a wind power leader. As Q4 2024 approaches, the US remains world's largest LNG exporter and its largest crude oil producer. 

However, as Day I of Gastech - which is formally running from September 17 to 20 - kicked off on Tuesday, energy bosses bemoaned the lack of clarity and consistency from Washington on policy matters pertaining to natural gas exploration and LNG permits. (Read full report for Forbes here)

The Oilholic kick-started his Gastech 2024 speaking circuit journey on Tuesday as well, with India's Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri - a seasoned diplomat turned politician and a lively keynote speaker at international events. 

Our fireside chat was titled 'Energy transformation through innovation and investment'. It also served as a curtain raiser for India Energy Week 2025. 

Puri explained how India was managing the cyclical volatility in the energy market, its efforts aimed at improving energy diversity, investments in renewables and a call for changing the paradigm from a production-oriented approach to a more consumption-oriented approach. All at a time when oil prices are currently lurking around 2021 lows. 

The event's exhibition floor also opened its doors on the first morning for the 4-day event, with 800 exhibitors and 20 international country pavilions. Overall 50,000 attendees are expected this week, with 7,000 delegates from 125 countries. 

Later on Tuesday, yours truly also hosted a pivotal panel discussion titled 'Harnessing the advantages of natural gas to fuel the artificial intelligence (AI) revolution.' 

The panellists included Rebekah Eggers, Global Client Engagement & Innovation Director, Energy & Resources Sector, IBM, Arun Kumar Singh, Chairman & CEO, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd, Ken West, President & CEO, Honeywell Energy and Sustainability Solutions, Naser Al Yafei, SVP, Strategy, Sustainability & Transformation, ADNOC Gas, and Matthew Babin, Head of Energy & Natural Resources, Palantir Technologies. 

The panel touched on the growing need for electricity - often and increasingly generated by natural gas plants - to power data centers and fuel the AI revolution. This is expected to drive a surge in natural gas demand. 

Some panellists noted that natural gas is the most cost efficient energy source capable of delivering the round-the-clock, reliable power required by tech giants. Others said AI itself could chalk sustainable future pathways predicated on renewables. 

It better be, for according to the International Energy Agency (IEA), global power demand from data centers could skyrocket to over 1,000 TWh by 2026 – double the levels seen in 2022. 

It is a subject area yours truly rounded up the first day of Gastech 2024 with a BBC Business Today interview with Sally Bundock. We talked about the complexities and opportunities of using natural gas to power the AI revolution which seems to be the most plausible near-term solution. 

Day II - Wednesday - brought further profound discussions on the energy transition and learning to do more (in terms of throughput) with less (energy). It is something the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) segment is taking pretty seriously. 

The Oilholic touched on the subject in a fireside chat with Chris Ashton, CEO of Worley, who discussed how contractors manage these variables in today’s operational landscape and are having to contend with a high interest rate and inflation climate in a very competitive industry. 

Ashton also offered perspectives on how AI, new technologies and innovative approaches are revolutionizing energy networks, power grids and gas infrastructure, and how these advancements contribute to the efficient and cost-effective completion of projects to accelerate the path toward net zero. 

That's all for now folks. There's plenty more to come from yours truly from Gastech. So keep reading, keep it here, keep it 'crude'! 

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To email: journalist_gsharma@yahoo.co.uk  

© Gaurav Sharma 2024. Photo I: Houston's George R. Brown Convention Center, the venue of Gastech 2024. Photo II: Gaurav Sharma holds a fireside chat with Hardeep Singh Puri, Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas, India on 17.09.24. Photo III: Gastech 2024 exhibition floor. Photo IV: Gaurav Sharma on BBC World Business Today on 17.09.24 at 11:46 CDT. (Courtesy: BBC) Photo V: Gaurav Sharma holds a fireside chat with Chris Ashton, CEO of Worley on 18.09.24.

Gastech 2024 sessions to be hosted by yours truly

The Oilholic is delighted to be back in Houston, Texas, US for Gastech 2024, one of the world's largest energy industry fixtures, being held here from September 17 to 20. Yours truly will be holding three panel sessions and two fireside chats at the event with Hardeep Singh Puri, India's Honorable Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas, and Chris Ashton, Chief Executive Officer of Worley. 

The three panels will include distinguished industry thought leaders. Please do join if you can for some fantastic and insightful industry dialogues. Here are the details of the sessions:

Tuesday, September 17, 2024 @ 12:45 pm CDT

IEW2025: Energy transformation through innovation and investment

With His Excellency Hardeep Singh Puri, Honorable Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas, India

(Click image to enlarge for details)

Tuesday, September 17, 2024 @ 4:50 pm CDT

Harnessing the advantages of natural gas to fuel the Artificial Intelligence revolution

With:

- Rebekah Eggers, Global Client Engagement & Innovation Director, Energy & Resources Sector, IBM

- Arun Kumar Singh, Chairman & CEO, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd

- Ken West, President & CEO, Honeywell Energy and Sustainability Solutions 

- Naser Al Yafei, SVP - Strategy, Sustainability & Transformation, ADNOC Gas

- Matthew Babin, Head of Energy & Natural Resources, Palantir Technologies

(Click image to enlarge for details)

September 18, 2024 @ 10:40 am CDT

Delivering projects in a challenging operating and cost environment

Executive leadership fireside chat with Chris Ashton, CEO, Worley

(Click image to enlarge for details)

September 19, 2024 @ 10:45 am CDT

Decarbonizing heavy transportation: Collaborations to address the acceleration of climate technology solutions from development to deployment

With:

- Sukhmal Jain, Director (Marketing) & Board Member, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited

- Yoki Firnandi, CEO, PT Pertamina International Shipping

- Meg Gentle, Executive Director, HIF Global

- Mark S. Brownstein, SVP, Environmental Defense Fund

(Click image to enlarge for details)

September 19, 2024 @ 2 pm CDT

Fostering greater climate technology innovation, deployment, and scale across the value chain

With:

- Mahdi Aladel, CEO of Aramco Ventures

- Paula Gant, President & CEO, GTI Energy

- Vikas Dhole, GM of Project Management, AspenTech

(Click image to enlarge for details)

Keep reading, keep it here, keep it 'crude'! 

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© Gaurav Sharma 2024. Photo © Gastech / dmgevents 2024. 

$80 is looking like Brent's price ceiling not the floor

The second day of the fresh trading week has heaped yet more misery on the oil market. Its the same story as the last week - of declines along familiar lines (global demand, lower Chinese imports, economic uncertainties, oversupply of light crude in particular - the whole works). 

Compared to last week, on Monday the Brent front-month contract ended 8.11% lower while the WTI ended 7.01% lower. 

Having breached $75 per barrel floor, Brent futures are now testing $70 with the WTI having fallen through it some time ago. This is for all intents and purposes a rout based on weaker demand and more than adequate supply. It means that as things stand - at least from the Oilholic's perspective - a $80 oil price is now the ceiling, and not the floor!

The current market sentiment has sent Wall Street banks scrambling to lower their oil price forecasts and market observers to tone down their demand growth forecasts for both this year and the next. This blogger has long been suggesting that 2024 will end in an oversupply of light sweet crude. But as it appears, the whole market might well be in surplus regardless. 

Away from pricing, here's yours truly latest missive for Energy Connects on M&A activity in the sector which appears to be pretty buoyant. Looks like the low price climate has seemingly narrowed the buyer-seller disconnect.

More musings to follow soon. Keep reading, keep it here, keep it 'crude'! 

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© Gaurav Sharma 2024. Photo: Oil production site. © Jplenio / Pixabay, 2018. 

Up close to world's 'strongest land-based crane'

Last week the Oilholic headed out to Westdorpe, The Netherlands, for an opportunity to get up close to what is being described as 'the world's strongest land-based crane' designed and built by Mammoet. Meet the SK6000. 

But just how strong and big you ask? Well the vital stats provided by the good folks at Mammoet are impressive. The '6000' in the name gives it away that it has a maximum lift capacity of a whopping 6,000 tons. 

It can routinely lift components of up to 3,000 tons - roughly the weight of six Airbus A380 super-jumbo aircraft - to a height of 220 m. It utilizes 4,200 tons of ballast to lift with a maximum ground bearing pressure of 30 tons /sq m. 

Naturally for a crane of such a record-breaking capacity, it has to be ginormous and it is. Yours truly saw the gleaming red structure from nearly a mile away on approach to the Mammoet pilot site. We're looking at a main mast of 127-171 m, a jib length - or the distance between the crane axis and the jib - of 29-95 m and a ballast to mast foot length of 59.2 m. 

It has the capability of full electric power (grid, fuel cell, batteries) or standard generators, and it will be primarily containerised for simplicity of movement to sites worldwide. 

Undoubtedly, this beast of a crane will likely have a huge impact on the construction processes and life-cycles within the energy infrastructure sphere - its intended primary market. 

That is a world where there is constant pressure on project sponsors and engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) firms to complete projects safely, on time and on budget or if you wish - with more efficiency, more productivity and through safer operations. 

Nuclear, renewable and traditional energy project segments would all welcome Mammoet's latest offering. The company has lined up its first client for the SK6000 "in Asia" with a deployment scheduled at some point in 2025.  

Here's the Oilholic's more detailed feature for Forbes on the business case for the SK6000, following a conversation with Gavin Kerr, Director Global of Services at Mammoet. 

Additionally, he discussed the concept to completion journey of the crane, describing it as four-year endeavour involving multiple teams, and a satisfying final assembly phase that began in June and was completed last month ahead of schedule. 

The report also has more awesome photos of this modern engineering marvel, rather than yours truly's admittedly amateurish attempts to capture a huge crane on a tiny mobile phone camera for this blog!  

In a nutshell, Mammoet believes the SK6000 would enhance the serviceability for refining and offshore new-build and / or maintenance projects in the following ways:  

• Its facilitation of modular construction will allow energy facilities to be built simultaneously, in controlled environments that are safer and high-quality. 

• It would assist with building in larger components, which shortens the build phase and reduces on-site installation activities.

• The more (and the bigger bits) that can be built off-site, the fewer the connections needed to be made on-site with less testing and fewer working hours.

• And, a combination of the above reduces the time to first energy, and/or reduces the downtime needed to maintain facilities.

All-in-all a very interesting development for the energy EPC segment to watch out for as Mammoet's latest record breaker undergoes final safety and stress testing ahead of its first outing. With those final thoughts, it's time take your leave. More musings to follow soon. Keep reading, keep it here, keep it 'crude'! 

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© Gaurav Sharma 2024. Photos: Gaurav Sharma at the launch site of heavy engineering group Mammoet's latest crane - the SK6000 which is considered to be the world's 'strongest land-based' one. © Gaurav Sharma, August 30, 2024. 

Speaking and moderating at Gastech 2024

Delighted to announce that yours truly will be moderating and speaking at Gastech 2024 in Houston, Texas, US, from September 17 to 20. Explore the global event's critical conference agenda that is driving the energy transition through groundbreaking innovation, visionary leadership, and action here.

And more on the Oilholic's panels and sessions here.

Looking forward to the deliberations, meeting thought leaders and friends. Join, if you can, for some fantastic industry exchanges and networking in H-Town.

Keep reading, keep it here, keep it 'crude'! 

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© Gaurav Sharma 2024. Digital event banner courtesy of dmgevents.

Stock market carnage wobbles oil bulls' stance

Before the recent global stock market carnage hit, bulls in the oil market had already revised their pipe-dream of $100 per barrel Brent prices down to still somewhat unrealistic $90 prices. 

In the face of uncertain summer demand in the Northern Hemisphere, oil prices were already wobbly prior to the wider market volatility. To the Oilholic, even lower to mid-$80 levels appeared to be on the higher side back then. Then - at least from the Bulls' standpoint - disaster struck last week. 

Stock market fears in the US on Friday (Aug 2) spilled over to Asia on Monday sparking declines from Tokyo to Frankfurt, and London back to New York and pretty much all else in between. 

Since energy markets don't operate in isolation from the wider macro climate, oil futures also took a predictable hit, with the Brent front-month contract sliding down to $75 at one point. Recovery followed on Tuesday, both for the stock market as well as the oil market. However, the future direction of travel is not as clear cut for crude markets. 

With lack of clarity on demand and plenty of non-OPEC, especially US, crude available, these days tension in the Middle East doesn't create the kind of price spikes the market had become accustomed to seeing in the previous decade. And in case you haven't heard, the latest Energy Information Administration (EIA) weekly data suggests new all-time US oil production record of 13.4 million barrels per day (bpd) and currently projected to rise to 13.7 million bpd in 2025.

Elevated levels of geopolitical tension offer ample proof of that, and price spikes caused by risk now tend to fizzle out pretty quickly unless energy infrastructure is hit, as yours truly recently told Reuters. And it hasn't been hit so far. 

Meanwhile, both the IEA and OPEC are stuck in their respective positions that oil demand growth for 2024 will below 1 million bpd for the former and above 2 million bpd for the latter. Even if the figure is an average of the two, that demand growth can currently be serviced by the uptick in non-OPEC production alone. 

Not a single physical crude market source and their solver models (i.e. what-if analysis 6 months out) seem to indicate he/she is having (or will have) difficulty in securing crude cargoes at their projected price points, especially of light sweet crude. 

And Brent also remains in backwardation, i.e. a position wherein the current price is higher than prices trading in the futures market for later months. June 2025 Brent prices are nearly $3 lower than front-month (Oct) Brent prices. 

Many in the market are now calling for a $75 Brent floor. It is something the Oilholic has long suggested would be the lower end of a $75-$85 per barrel Brent price range. Looks like the Bulls may well have to recalibrate their long calls yet lower again. Well, that's all for the moment folks. More musings to follow soon. Keep reading, keep it here, keep it 'crude'! 

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© Gaurav Sharma 2024. Photo: Oil pump jack building block model at the AVEVA World 2023 Conference, Moscone Center, San Francisco, US. © Gaurav Sharma, October 2023. 

Third successive weekly loss for crude oil futures

As another trading week came to a close on Friday, oil futures posted their third successive weekly loss. That's the first such occurrence since early June and the Brent front-month contract is now down below $80 per barrel, having spent much of the month of July in the red. It seems no matter what the market is presented with inventory-wise, concerns over demand - especially China's demand - continue to weigh on trading sentiment.

The long ongoing divergence in global demand growth forecasts between the IEA and OPEC adds to the element of uncertainty, with the former keeping its projections for 2024 below 1 million barrels per day (bpd) and the latter maintaining them above 2 million bpd. 

And some in the market are factoring in an unwinding of OPEC cuts later this year, even though the Saudi oil minister has been on record saying the producers' group will react otherwise should conditions merit it. It looks like they do! 

Furthermore, for major buyers such as China and India the availability of discounted crude, however nominal that discount maybe, remains as yours truly noted in an interview with Asharq Bloomberg on July 17.

Overall, in a market that's seeking direction and looking at summer demand in the Northern Hemisphere, things have turned south given the absence of clear signals. As things stand, the first month of a pivotal third quarter of oil trading - ahead of a peaking of refinery demand in August - has turned out to be a damp squib for crude market bulls.

But it is (so far) looking like OPEC is not going to do much at its next meeting, Brent remains in backwardation and many are joining the IEA in predicting an oil market surplus toward the end of the year and early next year. Last week, investment bank Morgan Stanley became the latest to do so (For The Oilholic's Forbes post on the subject, click here). Oil is a story of demand too, so supply-side measures can only do so much in terms of impact in prices. 

Generally speaking, most contacts in the market envisage lower crude prices in Q1 2025, and much of the year-end surplus to be in light sweet crude, boosted undoubtedly by relatively higher US production. So the pipe dream of $90 Brent oil prices this year, remains just that - a pipe dream. That's all for the moment folks. More musings to follow soon. Keep reading, keep it here, keep it 'crude'! 

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© Gaurav Sharma 2024. Photo: Gaurav Sharma on Asharq Bloomberg TV © Asharq Bloomberg TV, July 17, 2024.