Specialist
Executive at Equinor ASA
Agenda
- Oil market outlook and supply and demand balances
- Renewable energy impact on demand and capacity
- Potential energy policy initiatives in the Biden administration
- Major players' alternative energy strategies
Questions
1.
Renewable energy was a massive stock market outperformer in 2020. What was behind the sudden interest, particularly as hydrocarbon prices collapsed? Do you expect that interest to continue?
2.
There are many investments going into wind and solar, which I think most of us agree have been the drivers of the stock performance. What are the implications of developed world grids getting overcrowded and negative electricity prices? Do you think that puts wind and solar growth in developed markets at risk?
3.
Which geographies would you be most concerned about putting more renewables into? Is it the UK, where you said there were 30 days of negative power prices last year? What are the riskiest places to lever a project?
4.
You mentioned the expansion into undersaturated renewables markets. Is it just everywhere? You mentioned offshore US, Brazil and Thailand, seemingly unrelated areas, but are there any high-cost areas that represent a unique opportunity?
5.
Where does the price of storage spread and batteries have to get down to in order to make sense? Is there any point in the future where you expect it to become economic?
6.
Are there any historical analogues where industries were adopting newer technologies and there was deflation but no profits? How did those analogues play out?
7.
What government policies do you think will continue to inflate the bubbles?
8.
You mentioned there are three things that can burst these bubbles. What are they?
9.
If the oil market was already three million barrels per day undersupplied before the Saudi Arabia cut announced a few days ago, and I understand there is excess inventory, what demand recovery were you expecting in oil? If the market does work off these inventories and commodity prices go higher, is that more of an incentive to invest in alternatives? Would that perpetuate the bubble?
