Louis Besland is the managing director of Alix Partners and is returning as a judge for the second consecutive year
Why were you interested in becoming a judge for the awards?
In terms of the awards, what I am interested in is to discover the talents from the region. The region is growing very fast, particularly in the oil and gas and petrochemicals segment. Building local talent is a key challenge for the industry. Discovering how these talents are growing and developing is very nice way to do it through the awards. I really like that.
Of course, there are also a lot of development projects, regional expansion and all that sort of thing. So to see how companies in the region efficiently manages those projects and get the end results in a timely manner and while monitoring the cost in a more and more stringent manner, is also a very interesting aspect of the awards.
What events are particularly interesting you in the market today?
In the market there is still a lot of big investments in both the upstream and downstream sector and which are due to be completed in the next three to four years. So, that is quite a big thing that is happening. Then also you have the gas shortage and so there are a number of things that are coming up to compensate for that. Some of these things are specially related to the value chain – the change of feedstock from gas to liquid feedstock – which also drives bigger integration between refining and petrochemicals. Another thing that is happening more and more is the search for shale oil and gas. This is particularly true in Saudi Arabia at the moment. We might see that as a trend to compensate for the lack of shale gas – and there is a lot. So, the region is blessed not only with traditional oil and gas but also with shale oil and gas. This will be at a much slower pace than in the US – for the US it was really a way to boost the economy when it was at a very distressed point.
Do you think there is a certain price point that gas has to hit for it to be considered economical?
No, I don’t think it’s a question of cost because the shale gas and the natural gas that exists are cheap and continue to be cheap anyway. The question of economical incentive to search for oil and gas and to extract it – it’s more to do with the availability of it. You still have two wild cards which are Iraq and Iran, where you could source alternative supplies of gas. If you had interconnection within the region, that could be what drives more or less of the shale gas research. It’s more a question of availability than it is a question of price.
Tell us about your experience from last year?
I liked the diversity of the nominations and the applications – I think you’ve got quite a clear image of what is happening in the region through the nominations. The different segments of the nominations and the different companies – you have a comprehensive coverage of what is happening.
About the Judge
Louis Besland joined Alix Partners Global Energy practice as a managing director. He has deep experience in the worldwide oil, gas and chemical sector. In total he brings 27 years of consulting experience to his new position including significant strategic and operational expertise in logistics and infrastructure. Â
