REGION-AMERICAS,MIDDLEEASTANDOCEANIA CleanEnergy Transition:Oil&Gas Demandforcleanenergyandbiofuelsexpectedtogrow Oilandgasareanintegralpartoftheenergymixofthe Americas,MiddleEastandOceania.IntheUSandCanada,fossilfuelsmakeup80%ofthedomesticsupply,with theUSaloneconsumingmoreoilthananyothercountryintheworld.BrazilisthelargestoilproducerinLatin Americaandamongtheworld’stoptenlargestproducers. FiveoftheglobaltoptenoilproducerscanbefoundintheMiddleEast; SaudiArabia,Iraq,theUnitedArabEmirates,IranandKuwait.ThevastmajorityofelectricitygeneratedintheMiddleEast(nearly95%)comesfromoilandgas. OilaccountsforthelargestshareofAustralia’sprimaryenergymix,followedbycoalthengas. Oilandgasclearlyhaveanimportantroleineachofthesemarkets,sohowwilltheyachievethetransitiontocleanenergy? SpeakingatrecentCOP28inDubai,theExecutiveDirectoroftheInternationalEnergyAgency(IEA)said:“Oilandgasproducersaroundtheworldneedtomakeprofounddecisionsabouttheirfutureplaceintheglobalenergysector.”ToachievetheParisAgreementtargetofslowingglobalwarmingto1.5˚Cby2050,theIEAwarnsthattheoilandgasindustrywouldhavetocuttheirownemissionsby75%by2050. HighlightsintheAmericas,MiddleEastandOceania RewiringtheNation ThisisaninvestmentprogrammeofAUS20billiontoupdateAustralia’selectricitygrid,sothatitmeetthegrowingdemandforcleanelectricity. Hydro Hydro-energy,alsoknownashydroelectricpower,harnessestheenergyofflowingorfallingwatertogenerateelectricity. CanadianCleanEnergyPlanCanada’s2030EmissionsReductionPlanaimstoachieve40-45%emissionsreductions below2005levelsby2030. Diversificationislikelytobecriticalforthesurvivalofmuchoftheindustry,andthejourneyaheadwillbecomplex.Ifoilandgascompaniesinvestinswitchingtheirfocusfromfossilfuelstorenewables,willtheyberesponsibleforthedisposaloftheredundantinfrastructure?Andiftheydoinvestin growingcleanelectricityproduction,willtheexistingelectricitygridsbeabletocarrytheincreasedloadsofelectricity? What’smore,thereistheneedforongoingoilandgassuppliestoensurethesecurityofenergysupplyduringtransitionandalsotoprovidefuelforsectorsandemergingeconomieswhereloweringemissionsismuchmorechallenging.Sohowdowedecidewhichoilandgasproducerscancontinuetoproduce,andwhichneedtomakethebigdecisiontoendoperations,whichtoinvestinthe(costly)switchtocleanenergy? Industryopportunitiesincludediversificationintootherenergyservices,orareassuchasplasticsrecycling. AtradiusUnderwriter,Canada WhatdoAtradiusunderwritersseeastheprimaryissuesforthesectorinthespecificregions? InNorthAmerica,theInflationReductionAct(IRA)andCanadianCleanEnergyPlanareacceleratingenergytransitionbysupportinggrowthinrenewables.Ourunderwritersinthosemarketsnotedtheopportunitiesthatgovernmentincentivescanprovide,withourcolleaguesinCanadaaddingthatfurther possibilitiescouldbeopenedupthroughpartnershipsbetweenprivatecompaniesandgovernmententitiestodevelopcleanenergyinfrastructure.Challengesincludethecapitalcostsassociatedwithtransitionaswellasregulatoryissues. OurunderwritersinBrazilacknowledgedthesizeofcountry’shydropowerindustryandsaid:“Vastnaturalresourcescontinuetoprovideacompetitiveadvantageincleanenergyproduction.”And,inanodtonewgrowthareas,theyadded,“demandforbiofuelsisexpectedtogrowinthenextyears.”Echoingindustryconcernsaboutthecostoftransitiontheysaid:“Amajorindustrychallengeisfindingthecapitaltoinvestinnewtechnologiestoproducecleanenergywhilemaintainingprofitabilityandshareholdervalue.” IntheMiddleEast,ourindustryspecialistsacknowledgedthereisahugeopportunityfortheindustryto“makeasignificantexpansionintothisnewbusinesssegmentofcleanenergy.”HydroisthebiggestsourceofrenewableenergyintheMiddleEast,followedbyagrowingsolarsector.Transitioningfromandoilproducertoanenergyproducerholdshugepotentialfortheregion,butthishingesonthewillingnessoftheregion’sgovernmentstomoveinthatdirection. OurlocalindustryspecialistsinAustraliaalsopointto thepotentialpresentedbyutility-scalesolarphotovoltaics,includingbetterprofitmarginsfromcleanenergysources.However,ariskimpactingtheelectricitysectoristhecountry’screakingelectricitygrid.Thegovernmentprogramme,‘RewiringtheNation’isfocusingonupdatingthis. Anissuesharedacrossallofthesemarketsisgeopoliticalrisk.Eachofourindustryexpertslisteditasachallenge,withgeopoliticaluncertaintyinEasternEuropeand theMiddleEastrepresentingtheareasofmostconcern. Challenges:Whatarethemosturgentchallengesforthesectoroverthenextthreeyears? 1.Maintainingprofitability Howtomaintainprofitabilitywhilewindingdownakeybusinessareaandinvestinginnewtechnologyisoneofthebiggestchallengesfacingtheindustry.Althoughwhenfacedwiththedilemma,adaptordie,transitiontowardscleanenergymaybetheonlyoptionformostindustryplayers. 2.Geopoliticalrisk Geopoliticaltensionshavehadasignificantimpacton theenergymarket,includingtheenergycrisisthatfollowedRussia’sinvasionofUkraine.Furthermore,anescalationoftheconflictbetweenIsraelandHamascouldleadtoinstabilityintheMiddleEast’soilmarkets. 3.Governmentregulation Thereisnolevelplayingfieldwhenitcomestosustainabilityregulation.Somegovernmentshaveintroducedincentiv