Deloitte at the 2021 World Petroleum Congress

Block F15: Low-Carbon Technologies and Strategies for Oil & Gas
Presented by John O’Brien, partner, Financial Advisory, Deloitte Australia
The mining sector is ahead of oil and gas companies in feeling investor pressure to reduce both operational and value chain carbon emissions. Consequently, mining organisations may be paving the way for oil and gas companies to deploy low-carbon strategies and technologies. Deloitte Decarbonisation Solutions has worked with some of the world’s largest mining companies to help them develop emissions-reduction pathways that meet the demands of major investors and comply with science-based targets. We have then developed options for least-cost abatement solutions to deliver on these commitments. The pathway for oil and gas is different, but the principles remain the same. This session will provide a framework to negotiate the challenge of economically addressing the challenge of decarbonisation.

Block F8: Chemicals on the Rise
Presented by Stefan van Thienen, Oil, Gas & Chemicals leader, Deloitte Germany
Global megatrends like sustainability and circularity put oil and gas companies under mounting pressure to develop the long-term strategies and operating models necessary to capture, now more than ever, the growing value of the petrochemicals businesses. Chemical customers are not only driving demand, but also reshaping it, as they increasingly seek more sustainable and/or circular products. To win in this new customer-centric environment, chemical companies will not only have to become more sustainable and circular, but also more agile and open, building the capability to develop innovative solutions. This session will explore how companies can navigate the transformation toward both carbon-neutrality and the circular economy.

Block F9: Integration of Refining and Petrochemicals
Presented by Amy Chronis, Oil, Gas & Chemicals leader, Deloitte US
Disruptive forces such as feedstock changes, long-term sustainability, the state of globalisation, end-market demand changes, and large-scale technology transformation collectively point to the stronger focus of crude oil usage towards petrochemical. However, it’s one thing to plan for this convergence, either by building new plants or retrofitting older assets; and it is entirely another to make money doing it. This presentation will explore strategies for crossing the chasm between planning and execution, as well as the challenges of a stronger petrochemical-minded business model.

Block F16: Low-Carbon Energy Options: The Future of Renewables and Alternative Energies
Presented by Marlene Motyka, Renewable Energy leader, Deloitte US
Wind and solar PV technologies are seeing a rapid expansion due to their cost reductions and competitiveness with regard to conventional technologies, as well as high demand by consumers and corporates. But the future of the energy sector may depend on many other technologies as well. The only certainty is uncertainty: Nobody knows what alternative energy technologies lie around the corner, let alone which ones will be adopted at scale. This presentation will chart some potential paths forward for low-carbon energy options by identifying the factors that accelerate their development and deployment.

Block F22: Improving the Public Perception of the Oil and Gas Industry
Presented by Mike Lynn, Oil, Gas & Chemicals leader, Asia Pacific, Deloitte Australia
Globally, stakeholders are increasingly disheartened with business profit at the expense of society. Governments have attempted to balance company profits and competitiveness with benefits to society by introducing policies and regulation. Whilst this has increased corporate social-responsibility spend, it has made little impact. To date, many stakeholders, including governments and communities, continue to believe that oil and gas companies are the sole earners of wealth and that they continue to prosper at the expense of broader society. This prevalent misperception has resulted in a crisis of trust.

Lack of trust brings potential social volatility, which in turn jeopardises the ‘social license to operate’ of oil and gas companies. How then do they improve their reputations, deal with stakeholder perceptions and demands, achieve a greater socio-economic impact, and meet compliance requirements? Building trust, particularly regarding climate action and sustainability, is a journey towards incorporating a broader purpose and greater transparency. It requires ecosystem-thinking, where companies collaborate throughout the energy value chain on solutions to global problems. For many, it will also demand reimagining stakeholder communication, giving various groups a greater window into the company’s efforts to decarbonise and to develop innovative solutions that benefit society, such as carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) and green hydrogen. This paper explores the potential for bringing the oil and gas sector, government and society together to overcome the trust deficit and generate shared value beyond compliance.