Focus Turns to Gas

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At the World Gas Conference in Paris, major producer Total through their key personnel Patrick Pouyanne said the company will move away from coal and focus more on the burgeoning gas space, according to Bloomberg.

Pouyanne was quoted as saying at the conference “I still have a coal business and I have to get out of it,”

“I can’t say that coal is the enemy of gas and then continue to produce coal like some of my colleagues. I will get out of coal.”

“Total is gas and gas is good.”

Pouyanne furthered the position that the LNG market is expected to represent a greater share of the current global energy share.

“There will be a profound change in the world energy mix and Total plans to produce around 32.5 million tonnes of LNG.”

Poyanne was not alone in that sentiment with Chevron promoting LNG, with chairman John Watson saying “Natural gas and LNG will be essential to the world’s future energy mix and natural gas is significant part of the company’s portfolio.”

Exxonmobil CEO Rex Tillerson added that there is a predicted 65 per cent growth in gas demand in the coming 25 years, with gas likely to overtake coal as the second most prolific fuel source by 2025

Shell CEO Ben Van Beurden stated that gas, not coal, needed to be centre of focus in the world energy mix.

“How do we ensure that gas, not coal, is at the heart of the energy solution to meet rising demand,” Van Beurden asked.

“The benefits of gas are well documented,” he said.

“Gas is flexible, abundant, its ranges of use are increasing, it’s a strong ally for renewables, and it makes economic sense. Building gas power stations is faster and cheaper than coal. So, the quicker we move away from coal to a mix of gas and renewables, the cheaper energy will become.

“Still, the golden age of gas will not come automatically; we will need to work for it.”

Last month van Beurden made similar statements on the future importance of gas, stating that the company is shifting from "an oil-and-gas company to a gas-and-oil company".

Shell has also upped its exposure to the industry by leading the world with the development of its floating LNG platform Prelude, and making a massive $94 billion takeover push for the BG Group, which would give it access to the QCLNG plant on Curtis Island.

The energy giant has previously fought the expansion of coal globally, previously lobbying the World Bank to halt funding coal-fired plants before the firm announced it would cut lending to the coal sector.

Shell's head of gas, Maarten Wetselaar stated the company formed a department whose sole purpose was to lobby governments and funding bodies to look to gas as a power source over coal.

Maarten Wetselaar said climate change had pushed Shell to convince entities to increase the sale of gas in the global market

Australian LNG is now shifting into this next era, moving from an era of construction into one of production.

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