The transition away from hydrocarbons towards more climate-friendly alternatives is a long-term approach that requires clear goals in order for success, the CEO of British oil and gas giant BP said on Monday.
Governments around the world have begun to speed up policy reforms in line with climate challenge objectives. The global narrative, however, has left some groups clamoring for hydrocarbon energy sources to be removed from the energy chain as soon as possible. This, however, is unrealistic, Bernard Looney, CEO, BP said.
“This is simply a system that has been in place for decades and decades and decades. It’s called an energy transition for a reason. There is no light switch. It doesn’t happen overnight,” Looney said during a panel discussion at ADIPEC 2021, an oil and gas summit held in Abu Dhabi, UAE.
“The key question has got to be what are we actually tried to achieve? Are you trying to argue your position that hydrocarbons are not part of the future? Or are you actually trying to reduce emissions? Because that’s what we’re all trying to do,” Looney added.
The BP CEO went on to argue that energy transition policies need to be founded it facts and not ideological positions. Looney said that while there is a lack of trust “in some sectors of society when it comes to a company like ours,” even independent energy forecasts support this outlook.
“What we need to do is make this a practical and pragmatic energy transition that works … for that we need a plan just like we do for anything in our lives … If this were an easy problem to solve, it would have been solved already, I don’t expect any it to be easy,” Looney said.
For BP, the complexity surrounding the energy transition is a net positive, Looney added, as the company already deals with technologies that are likely to be important – such as hydrogen, solar, and wind.
“We’re telling people, it’s going to be hard, and we’re going to help solve it. That’s what society needs to hear from companies like ours. We don’t need to lecture people about the fact that they need us whether they like it or not,” Looney said.
