Oil and gas plays an important part in improving the living standards which an increasing part of the worlds population is able to enjoy. This is the message from Ryan Lance, CEO in ConocoPhillips.
“Your living conditions are a function of these products. Show me your phone. Show me your suit. Petroleum is used in all these things. Remember that more than 50 percent of production is used in the petrochemical industry that manufactures these products”, Lance says in an interview with DN.
The world needs new oil
“The debate in Europe and particularly in Norway, is different than in the USA. The industry can do a lot to become more sustainable, like stopping methane-leaks, but the world still needs reasonable, sustainable and stabile energy. Sun and wind cannot replace the oil industry in the next 20-30-40 years” he says to the newspaper.
In Lance’s opinion the world needs a LOT of new oil. “The natural fall in production in old fields increases the need, and over a billon people do not have access to cheap energy. The demand will therefore not decrease in the future.”
CCS – not interesting
In stark contrast to CEO in Equinor, Eldar Sætre, Lance does not see the need to expand the business by entering the renewable energy-market. He also does not believe in carbon capture and storage.
Lance points out that the USA has succeeded where the Europeans have failed, in reaching the CO2-goals in the Kyoto-agreement from 2005. The reason, according to Lance, is that the Americans let the market do the job. It allowed gas to replace coal.
