iMetal

Some of Southeast Asia’s top oil and gas executives spoke at OTC Asia on Tuesday about the dual challenge of achieving production growth while meeting the low-carbon demands of the energy transition amid a backdrop of rising energy prices and a world economy that is trying to get back on its feet.
The OTC Asia technical conference kicked off in Kuala Lumpur little more than a week before Malaysia is set to fully open its borders 2 years since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and during a week when oil prices have bounced back above $110/bbl. Both circumstances served as a reminder that as one source of volatility is fading, another has arrived with the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
In response to the month-long war and subsequent sanctions, some of the biggest energy companies in the world have pulled out of Russia, or heavily curtailed their future investments there, which has jeopardized the country’s ability to bring to market between 4 and 5 million B/D of oil exports.
“There’s a degree of optimism today, given improved oil prices, and players in the energy ecosystem can probably rejoice. But we cannot be irrationally excited by this period of relative sunshine,” warned Petronas CEO Tengku Muhammad Taufik.
The leader of Malaysia’s national oil company was recounting to those at the conference the perils that come with the industry’s boom-and-bust cycles. He recalled how in the middle of the past decade, high oil prices were followed by a painful downsizing and restructuring that spared no corner of the industry.