Gas Over Oil? | Baker Hughes

Panel discussion moderated by Amrita Sen, Director of Research, Energy Aspects

As an industry, we should stop apologizing because, without gas, without pretty much everything that we stand for, we simply cannot have growth. It is just very much about being responsible, about how we grow that. And gas has to be a solution to that.

Amrita Sen, Director of Research, Energy Aspects

Gas Over Oil?

Is natural gas a transition fuel, or a fuel of the future?

Hitoshi Okawa remarked that LNG and natural gas are a long-term and fundamental solution to develop and maintain a low carbon economy. He believes that companies will need to shift their portfolios from oil to gas. Hamed Al Naamany pointed out that, in the Middle East, they are investing in LNG but also seeing increasing renewable energy in wind and solar. Renewable energy is seen as vital because of the growing demand for energy globally.

The panelists discussed Henry Hub, and Mark Gvetvay said that it is not the global benchmark anymore. Different factors now contribute to the regional price of oil, which has been recovering since 2016. He added that the industry must listen to its customers, and deliver the lowest cost, or they’ll be out of the business.

The discussion turned to the topic of gas demand. Projected gas demand growth shows that there is going to be space for everybody, and today’s partnerships will support the future. As technology supports growth in places like Asia and the Middle East, seasonality in gas prices will be eliminated.