«Problems of economics and management of oil and gas complex»

The energy transition of the Middle East oil companies: catch up and overtake America?

UDC: 339.9
DOI: 10.33285/1999-6942-2023-8(224)-65-76

Authors:

¹ E.N. Primakov Institute of World Economy and International Relations, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia
² European University at St. Petersburg, St. Petersburg, Russia

Keywords: energy transition, US majors, CO₂ emissions of 1, 2 and 3 scope, decarbonization, hydrocarbon neutrality, Saudi Aramco, ADNOC, QatarEnergy, PDO

Annotation:

The article considers various approaches to the energy transition that are now prevailing in the oil and gas sector of industry, being the key player of this process. The approach of the European oil majors envisages their transformation into multi-profile energy companies, expansion of the share of renewable sources in their assets portfolio, strong focus on CO₂ emissions reduction and recognition of the fact that the future of the oil and gas business is uncertain. By contrast, the American oil companies continue to make a bet on the long-term future of hydrocarbons, energy efficiency improvement and technological breakthroughs application in order to reduce their carbon footprint. In terms of decarbonization, the US oil majors are significantly lagging behind their European counterparts and they are now facing new competitors, i.e. progressive Middle East national oil companies that demonstrate similar approaches to energy transition and implement comparable decarbonization policies. The article studies the key drivers of energy transition of the Middle East players and analyzes their main decarbonization measures.

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