Description:

Climate change, and the need to wean the world off hydrocarbon sources of energy, will have a significant impact on the hydrocarbon industry, an industry worth hundreds of billions of dollars annually, and which has been in existence for over a century. Even though the phasing out of hydrocarbons as an energy source is inevitable, the demise of the hydrocarbon industry is not. This study demonstrates that the hydrocarbon industry can make a significant contribution as the world transitions to low carbon energy. In this paper, we discuss the role of the hydrocarbon industry in developing a new hydrogen industry, demonstrating how the industry’s know how will be vital in the development, construction, and delivery of both blue and green hydrogen to an energy hungry world.

The study analyses the development and use of hydrogen and the concomitant need for CCUS to provide low-carbon energy sources. In undertaking the analysis, this study critically examines the legal and policy challenges, as well as the opportunities, the hydrocarbon industry will face as states seek to attain their goal of net-zero carbon emissions. The paper undertakes a detailed examination of what the challenges are, how they can be overcome, and the implications for the hydrocarbon industry. To accurately analyze such implications, this study investigates the responses to the challenge of NZE2050, and its impact on the hydrocarbon industry, focusing primarily on the experiences of mature petroleum jurisdictions to both highlight the various responses of the hydrocarbon industry in these jurisdictions and for lessons on the decarbonization road ahead.