“ We need a far more decisive break from the past” BP and Equinor on energy market developments, the Paris Agreement and providing more energy with less emissions
They both worked at the central bank of their home country before joining an oil and gas major. They both play a key role in the transformation of their oil and gas majors into broad energy companies. They are Spencer Dale, Group Chief Economist of BP and Eirik Wærness, Chief Economist of Equinor. Offshore Energy Today had the opportunity to speak with them about their views on energy market developments, reaching the Paris Agreement and the dual challenge of more energy and less carbon.
Eirik Wærness has been in the industry for a while. Asked about what he sees as the most remarkable developments of his time in the energy realm, Wærness says: “What is going on at the moment in terms of cost reductions in renewable electricity and battery technology for electric vehicles is a remarkable change.” At the same time the oil and gas industry demonstrates an enormous ability to reduce its cost levels when it has to. “Some of those changes are mind-boggling in terms of what we are able to do,” says Wærness, which “bodes well for the ability of that part of the energy industry to be competitive going forward.”
Shifting supply and demand
Spencer Dale, who manages BP’s global economics team, is a bit more
Digitization, artificial intelligence, how is that going to change the way we both produce and consume energy? of a newcomer in the industry, at least compared to Wærness, but brings decades of experience in economics and finance. When Dale looks at the energy markets, three things strike him as very exciting. First, the developments in the energy market itself. US shale oil and gas are revolutionizing the supply side of the market. The growth of electric cars and shared mobility are changing
About Spencer Dale, Group Chief Economist, BP Spencer Dale is group chief economist of BP plc since October 2014. Prior to that, he was executive director for financial stability at the Bank of England and a member of the Financial Policy Committee. Between 2008 and 2014, Spencer was chief economist of the Bank of England and a member of the Monetary Policy Committee. Spencer joined the Bank of England in 1989 and served in numerous roles, including head of economic forecasting. Spencer served as a senior advisor at the US Federal Reserve Board of Governors between 2006 and 2008.
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significant parts of the demand side. Second, according to Dale, is the shift in global energy demand notably towards China, India and Southeast Asia. Third, something that Dale confesses he had not really thought about until his move to BP, is technology. “Digitization, artificial intelligence, how is that going to change the way we both produce and consume energy?”
