BP: Beyond Petroleum and Back Again. Plus the Lorax Trap.
There is an interesting article in today’s FT describing BP’s trip “beyond petroleum and back again”. Having staked out the greener high ground of being the multinational oil company most devoutly search for alternative energy solutions, it is now seemingly retrenching, what with close its London office devoted to some such programs, as well as reputedly refocusing internally on petroleum and natural gas investments.
The piece carries many morals. First, it shows that alternative energy remains no cakewalk. Despite the massive capital budget of BP, and despite its vested interest in diversifying beyond fossil fuels, it has struggled to get even a fraction of its revenues from anything other than petroleum and natural gas. Second, the story reminds how difficult it will be for oil incumbents to avoid the Lorax trap of ever-enhancing extraction technology, thus making the eventual depletion curve for resources sharper and more calamitous.
Either way, the piece does contain the following nice figure comparing oil reserves claimed by various MNOCs worldwide:
