Companies in the oil and gas sector have the most chance of success when they invest in the right themes. According to GlobalData, hydrogen, liquefied natural gas (LNG), and environment, social and governance (ESG) could be defining themes in the oil and gas sector in the coming decade.

The leading data and analytics company’s report, ‘Top 20 Oil & Gas Themes 2022’, identifies the 20 themes that will have the most impact on the oil and gas industry in 2022.

Oil & Gas analysts at GlobalData offer their views on hydrogen, LNG and ESG issues;

Hydrogen

Barbara Monterrubio, Energy Transition Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “Several major economies have outlined low-carbon hydrogen strategies to pave the way for enabling the switch to clean energy. In the unfolding hydrogen economy, green hydrogen projects are gaining more prominence over blue hydrogen due to their lower carbon footprint.

“Technology development will play a crucial role in the competitiveness of hydrogen economy in the future.”

LNG

Sumit Chaudhuri, Managing Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “LNG, the preferred mode of natural gas delivery across vast distances worldwide, is expected to continue to play an important role as more countries globally switch to natural gas as a bridge-fuel to meet their environmental goals. Strategic shifts in the LNG competitive landscape will shape the global energy dynamics in the next decade.

“Though LNG is finding new markets globally, there is skepticism over carbon emissions in its value chain. Carbon-neutral LNG (CNL) seems to be the answer to this issue.”

ESG

Raj Shekhar, Director at GlobalData, comments: “Oil and gas companies have increased their efforts to limit or offset the environmental impact of their operations. The increased focus on climate change in global conventions like COP26 is expected to have a strong impact on conventional oil and gas operations.

“The ESG theme will dominate the boardrooms of leading energy companies due to shareholder pressure and global outrage on emissions.”

The heightened efforts by industry leaders in establishing hydrogen economy and sound ESG practices, and the strategic shifts in the LNG market landscape, justifies the focus on these themes.