What I learned as a CERAWeek 2018 Future Energy Leader

CERAWEEK? Just another conference I thought, but I was proven wrong. This is not “just like any other.” This is a gathering of the minds, the who is who in the energy industry, political leaders, and key influencers and decision makers driving a global discussion on the current state of the industry and the future ahead. Each day focused on a different aspect of energy, whether it was about oil, gas or power and transportation, all were tied by technology and the impact that has on each one.

I learned all this by attending as a CERA Future Energy Leader – one of BHGE’s two selections to represent our company. Important to note as well, especially given today is International Women’s Day, is that out of 100 Future Leaders this year, a third were women – most ever for the CERA Future Leader program.

As I reflect on my time this week at CERA, I noticed some of the common themes revolved around technology, hydrocarbon demand and infrastructure investment. Here are my thoughts on each:

Infrastructure investment: investment in the oil and gas industry globally is not enough to meet the growth demand in the upcoming years. Figures in the trillions of dollars have been estimated as required to be able to set up an infrastructure that can handle and meet the demand.

Hydrocarbon demand: More oil is needed to offset production from developed fields and meet the growing demand. Oil demand is about to break historic records of 100m barrels per day, Asia being the major source of this growth. Worth noting that the transportation sector in China and India will be in critical need of oil even though electric vehicles are becoming more popular.

Technology and innovation: these are key for the continued growth and evolving success of the industry. Being a major enabler in the industry, technology is being used and implemented by all to a different extent. Some so far advanced as having a business function focusing on digitization and artificial intelligence to become more efficient, effective, connected and make decisions faster while some are just starting to dabble in it. Many of the E&Ps have R&D efforts ongoing that will allow for improvements in the discovery and recovery processes of hydrocarbons, lower carbon footprint opportunities and exploring nonmetallic applications.

The global energy landscape is moving faster than any other market, the world is rapidly changing and evolving around us, so we either sit on the sideline and watch it go by or join in and become part of the change.

CERAWEEK 2018 has been an influential, educational and inspiring experience. Gives a chance to step away from the day to day firefighting and put everything into perspective for a more out of the box and long term strategic approach.