SPE 2014: Industry panel warns against exaggerated reaction to oil price drop
SPE 2014: Industry panel warns against exaggerated reaction to oil price drop
PRAMOD KULKARNI, Editor
AMSTERDAM – A panel of industry experts urged continued investment in oil and gas projects despite the 20% drop in oil prices at the inaugural session on affordable energy at the 2014 SPE Annual Technical Conference & Exhibition (ATCE).
“We should not exaggerate the imbalance, the demand for oil is expected to grow in the long run,” said Chris Beeson Sr. Energy Analyst with the IEA (International Energy Agency). “Longer term, oil demand is continuing to grow. Investments should continue. By the time new projects start to deliver, the supply/demand will be tight once again.”
The panel discussion was moderated by Maryam Nemazee, a TV news anchor and journalist. In addition to Beeson, experts epresenting various sectors of the industry on the panel were Neil Duffin, President, ExxonMobil Development Company; Gustavo Hernandez, General Director and CEO, Pemex Exploration & Production; Philippe Barril, Executive Vice President and COO Onshore/Offshore, Technip.
Prior to the panel discussion, Matthias Bichsel, member of the executive committee and former Projects & Technology Director, Royal Dutch Shell, posed the vital question: “How much is the world willing to pay for energy—not just price at the pump, but in terms of capital costs, safety and the environment.”
The first question the panelists tackled was about the challenges to affordable energy. “On big deepwater projects, drilling costs are significant,” explained Duffin. “Large scale, mega projects are getting delayed and incurring cost overruns. One of ExxonMobil’s philosophies on cost reduction is to ‘design one and build many’”.
One of the novel aspects of the panel discussion was the use of an audience response system (ARS) for allowing the audience to participate via messaging to poll questions and ask questions of the panelists.
On the question of how much to spend on safety, a majority of the audience answered that the industry should spend as whatever it takes for the risk to be as reasonable as possible.
The SPE ATCE conference continues until October 29 with technical presentations and exhibits at the RAI Centre in Amsterdam.
