The Future of the Oil and Gas Industry in Venezuela in the Years to Come amidst a Challenging Environment of Economic Sanctions, World Recession, a Pandemic, and the Energy Transition

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 194-199
Author(s):  
Simon Herrera Celis ◽  
Jesús A. García-Arenas

This essay concisely explains the complex condition of the Venezuelan oil and gas industry and its legal, political, and financial hurdles, exploring what has been the history and context in which the COVID-19 pandemic arrived. Building on a complicated global situation surrounded by the pandemic, it asks and gives answers to: What could be expected to recover an economy dependent on the energy industry, based on an evaluation of legislation in force, its impact on private investments and an appraisal of bills and restructuring projects. Arguments were divided into the current situation, national and international actions for restructuring the oil industry, and the future of the national oil company. The analysis suggests that great changes are necessary for the future of the Venezuelan energy industry with a new public policy agenda mainly driven by private investments, while the energy transition has already started. The conclusion indicates that it is mandatory to assume the recovery of the traditional hydrocarbons sector in Venezuela to point the industry in the transition to decarbonized energy sources, in a world that is struggling with COVID-19.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander Sitnikov ◽  
Sergei Doktor ◽  
Andrei Margarit

Abstract In the recent years the oil and gas industry has started facing an unprecedented number of challenges. The average return on capital in the industry has deteriorated which results in investor mistrust and costs being higher than ever. Debt capital became two times costlier than for alterative types of energy. More conventional oilfields become depleted and new reserves are usually quite complex to develop. These and other challenges such as intense competition between oil and gas companies, the energy transition agenda as well as the volatility of oil prices in the aftermath of the pandemic are pushing the O&G companies to transform themselves. Gazprom Neft introduced the "Asset of the Future" program in late 2018 as a timely response which was aimed at completely transforming the Upstream business model. The main issue with the transformation was the scale of it, which included 10 subsidiaries (or subs) and more than 200 different processes. In this case traditional approaches such as improving each operation one by one would not suffice as the company sought a rapid and highly efficient implementation of changes. As such the program had to develop a new approach that focused on the integration of all business parts and continuous improvement. Integration of people, technology and processes will lead to better collaboration and as a result - to smarter decisions and better execution.


2020 ◽  
Vol 246 ◽  
pp. 00008
Author(s):  
J. Craig ◽  
F. Quagliaroli

Eni operates in all areas, from its traditional oil, gas and chemical businesses to renewable energy resources, through its business units and companies. Significant investments are also dedicated to research and development. Eni’s organizational structure is oriented towards the oil & gas core business, time and cost efficiency and the achievement of goals; an agile and effective organization in constant evolution, capable of responding promptly to the challenges that the scenario poses to the entire energy sector. Within the oil & gas industry cycle, the upstream phase includes the exploration, which is the object of the present paper, the development, production and abandonment activities, whereas the midstream and downstream phases deal with the hydrocarbon transportation and trading to the refining and marketing. The exploration units manage Eni’s exploration activities. Exploration is Eni’s driving force, and it is this activity that in recent years has ensured, and will continue to ensure, the future organic growth of the company, with low costs and the flexibility to monetize quickly the results. The concluding section of the present paper will briefly review the future of the oil and gas industry in the context of the energy transition.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Armstrong Lee Agbaji

Abstract Historically, the oil and gas industry has been slow and extremely cautious to adopt emerging technologies. But in the Age of Artificial Intelligence (AI), the industry has broken from tradition. It has not only embraced AI; it is leading the pack. AI has not only changed what it now means to work in the oil industry, it has changed how companies create, capture, and deliver value. Thanks, or no thanks to automation, traditional oil industry skills and talents are now being threatened, and in most cases, rendered obsolete. Oil and gas industry day-to-day work is progressively gravitating towards software and algorithms, and today’s workers are resigning themselves to the fact that computers and robots will one day "take over" and do much of their work. The adoption of AI and how it might affect career prospects is currently causing a lot of anxiety among industry professionals. This paper details how artificial intelligence, automation, and robotics has redefined what it now means to work in the oil industry, as well as the new challenges and responsibilities that the AI revolution presents. It takes a deep-dive into human-robot interaction, and underscores what AI can, and cannot do. It also identifies several traditional oilfield positions that have become endangered by automation, addresses the premonitions of professionals in these endangered roles, and lays out a roadmap on how to survive and thrive in a digitally transformed world. The future of work is evolving, and new technologies are changing how talent is acquired, developed, and retained. That robots will someday "take our jobs" is not an impossible possibility. It is more of a reality than an exaggeration. Automation in the oil industry has achieved outcomes that go beyond human capabilities. In fact, the odds are overwhelming that AI that functions at a comparable level to humans will soon become ubiquitous in the industry. The big question is: How long will it take? The oil industry of the future will not need large office complexes or a large workforce. Most of the work will be automated. Drilling rigs, production platforms, refineries, and petrochemical plants will not go away, but how work is done at these locations will be totally different. While the industry will never entirely lose its human touch, AI will be the foundation of the workforce of the future. How we react to the AI revolution today will shape the industry for generations to come. What should we do when AI changes our job functions and workforce? Should we be training AI, or should we be training humans?


2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donald G. MacDiarmid ◽  
Sean J. Korney ◽  
Melanie Teetaert ◽  
Julie J.M. Taylor ◽  
Robert Martz ◽  
...  

Rights of first refusal and other preferential or pre-emptive rights (together, ROFRs, and individually a ROFR) routinely find their way into oil and gas industry agreements. Disputes often arise because of the complex nature and significant economic consequences of ROFRs. In recent years, a number of reported cases, either relating directly to ROFRs or more generally relating to contractual interpretation, have clarified (or at times muddied) the waters surrounding the use, application, and interpretation of ROFRs. However, most ROFR disputes never result in a reported decision because the parties typically negotiate solutions long before trial.The authors consider current trends involving ROFRs in oil and gas agreements, and how they believe the law and legal practice surrounding ROFRs might continue to evolve in the years to come. The authors do not attempt to rehash the fundamentals of the law surrounding ROFRs; instead, they focus on how the courts have dealt with ROFRs in recent cases as well as how corporate lawyers and in-house counsel grapple with ROFRs day-today. The authors utilize the ROFR provisions found in industry standard contracts to analyze outstanding areas of uncertainty as well as what lawyers should contemplate prior to including a ROFR in an agreement. Additionally, the article examines the implications of recent rulings on the duty of good faith that may affect ROFRs. Finally, the article considers selected subjects of topical interest, including ROFRs in the context of busted butterfly transactions, insolvency proceedings, and package deals.


2020 ◽  
Vol 60 (2) ◽  
pp. 548
Author(s):  
Gavin Thompson

How will the global energy system move sharply towards a pathway compatible with the goals of the Paris Agreement by 2030? Despite great efforts on cost reductions in renewables, alternative technologies, advanced transportation and supportive government policies, progress to date is not enough. The challenge is now one of scalability. Although some technologies required for a 2°C future are economic and proven, many others are not. Optimists look at the cost of solar and wind and say we have all we need to achieve our targets. The reality is that significant additional investment is needed to get them to material scale, globally. And too often huge challenges are downplayed in sectors beyond power and transport, including industry, aviation, shipping, heating and agriculture. Given the criticality of climate change, these multiple challenges must now be addressed. Consequently, any accelerated pace of decarbonisation represents an existential challenge to the oil and gas industry, including in Australia. If companies are to remain investible through the long term, all will need to transition to business models that are aligned with the goals of the Paris Agreement. This paper considers what the path to decarbonisation could look like and how oil and gas companies must respond in order to prosper through the energy transition.


2019 ◽  
Vol 38 (12) ◽  
pp. 980-980

Sam traveled back about two-thirds of a lifetime to see a young man, the proud owner of a newly awarded graduate degree and married for only two weeks, walking into the lobby of the building where he would start his career as a geophysicist in the oil and gas industry. He carried a personalized leather briefcase, a gift from his parents which was very fashionable in those days; he doesn't remember any details of its contents. By his own estimate he was confident, but not too confident, and undoubtedly was much more nervous and apprehensive than he realized at the time. After only a few years and still on a very steep segment of his personal learning curve, he chose to take a position with a different company, necessitating relocation of his family to another state. At his new company a representative of the Personnel department (the language hadn't evolved to Human Resources yet) asked him, “What is your primary career goal?” Instinctively and without hesitation he replied, “I want to be the best geophysicist you have.” He couldn't have imagined how often the substance of his response would motivate and guide him in years to come, nor could he have known at the time that there is no such person as the “best geophysicist” in a company (see Interpreter Sam in the October 2008 issue of TLE). Certainly there is an “only geophysicist” in some companies, but …


2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 369-374
Author(s):  
O. I. Kalinskiy ◽  
M. A. Afonasiev

The authors study oil and gas industry, its condition and perspective trends of industrial development. One of them involves applying low carbon and low cost technologies. The authors introduce new strategic imperatives in oil and gas sector to perform energy transition. They study the types of categories of perspective trends of the industry’s development: scaling up the development and implementation of a carbon capture and storage system, using low carbon raw materials, making it possible to take granular measurements. The article deals with perspectives of the oil and gas industry for the current year. The perspectives are built with the consideration of the previous year’s indicators and include all the past disasters and the dynamics of their solution and the results for the society. The authors show wider implementation of drones used for abnormal emissions of hydrogen sulfide to carry out distant monitoring, observations, inspections and preventive maintenance, change tracking, methane management, emergency response and material processing. The article describes precision drilling which reduces the risk of accidents, oil spills, fires and increases rate of penetration. The authors present microwave hydraulic fracturing which can become the next significant achievement in the perspective development of the industry.


2011 ◽  
Vol 49 (2) ◽  
pp. 339
Author(s):  
Nick Kangles ◽  
R Ben Rogers ◽  
Zahra Allidina ◽  
Chris Harris

After reviewing a number of Canadian legal principles relating to indemnities, this article reviews risk allocation provisions used in certain segments of the oil and gas industry in Canada with a view to exploring the rationale behind the use of different risk allocation regimes and combinations thereof, and constraints to the enforceability of such provisions. The authors then discuss select issues that should be taken into account when reviewing, negotiating, and drafting these types of provisions.


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