What's In A Name: The Changing Face of the Oil and Gas Industry
Facing the fossil fuel dilemma
Although
the continued and growing use of fossil fuel is not the only area of concern,
it is at the heart of the protests. You only need to look at the giant
corporations driving the exploration of oil and gas to see that there is a
recognition of the changing energy landscape. There is a general consensus that
unless there is an apocalyptic change in the way that we live fossil fuels will
be required for the next couple of decades, but it is the planning for their
eventual demise that is taking center stage.
Although
not amongst the global top 20 when it comes to revenue, we have witnessed the
recent rebranding of a Norwegian oil major, Statoil as Equinor. A move that
they feel highlights their transition to a clean energy company of the future,
albeit still driven by oil and gas revenue until the middle of this century.
Danish energy company DONG (Danish Oil and Natural Gas), went one step further
by divesting all of its upstream oil and gas assets as part of its rebranding
to Orsted.
“Our
vision is a world that runs entirely on green energy,” Thomas Thune Andersen,
chairman of the board of directors, says. “Climate change is one of the most
serious challenges facing the world today, and to avoid causing serious harm to
the global ecosystems, we need to fundamentally change the way we power the
world by switching from black to green energy.”
A
name for the times
At
the 10th annual Subsea Valley (SSV) conference at Fornebu, Norway, last month,
there was a similar change of directions, with the cluster rebranded as Energy
Valley. While not abandoning the oil and gas heritage on which the energy
cluster had been built, there was a recognition that they needed to change to
support their member companies changing aspiration.
Subsea
Valley (SSV) was initially conceived back in 2010 to support the efforts of the
technology companies serving the oil and gas sector. Traditionally the valley
consisted of Fornebu, Sandvika, Asker, Tranby, Drammen, Hokksund and Kongsberg,
totaling approximately 75 km in length. The SSV consists of 184 firms and
incorporates three of the five major subsea engineering companies that compete
in the industry.
Driving
excellence in energy
Energy
Valley is a technology cluster and Norwegian Centre of Expertise (NCE) in
energy technology with a center of gravity in the greater capital region of
Norway,” Preben Strøm, managing director of Energy Valley says. “By offering
infrastructure for collaboration, knowledge transfer, and new insight, we help
our members adapt to, benefit from, and contribute to the energy industry in
transition.
“The
fact that Subsea Valley becomes Energy Valley does not mean that we are leaving
subsea behind, but that we are embracing the opportunities, taking on a broader
scope, adjusting the energy transition and the opportunities in our evolving
industry.
Two
years ago the group was awarded Nation Centre of Expertise for energy
technology, taking on the national and international mandate for developing the
energy industry. “Our new name reflects our new strategy, our new position, and
our ambitions,” Strøm adds. “We are ready to engineer the energy future.”
It was a sentiment echoed by Karl Johnny Hersvik, CEO of Aker BP. “If you want to change the world–be a part of the oil industry,” he says. He went on to emphasize the value of the developments of better energy systems within oil and gas for the broader energy transition. “No other industry has a better opportunity to fund the energy transition than oil and gas,” he concludes. “It is part of our company improvement programs to drive the change. We should be proud.”