|
MADRID: Despite record crude prices, the major oil companies are
struggling to access resources that are being jealously guarded by
national companies with whom they are forced to establish
partnerships.
As paradoxical as it may seem, high oil prices
do not mean a golden age for the likes of ExxonMobil, Chevron, Total
or BP.
Of course, with a barrel of oil at more than
$140, they are seeing major profits, but the future has never seemed
so uncertain.
The problem is access to reserves. The oil
majors now control less than 10 percent of world resources of gas
and oil, against 70 percent in the 1970s, according to figures
released by the office of Ernst and Young at the World Petroleum
Congress in Madrid.
As a result they are being forced to explore in
increasingly extreme conditions.
“Oil in deep water or in regions that are
difficult to access [such the Arctic] are what are left for
international companies,” said Christophe de Margerie, the head of
French group Total.
The majors are also competing with the national
oil companies, which are not content to just enjoy direct access to
the resources of their respective countries but are making inroads
elsewhere.
“National hydrocarbon companies are no longer
confined to within their borders,” Organization of the Petroleum
Exporting Countries President Chekib Khelil said, citing the
examples of China’s Sinoc and CNPC, Malaysia’s Petronas or
Algeria’s Sonatrach.
“A lot of international companies were
previously national companies, such as BP and Total,” said Khelil.
“It’s more and more difficult now to know
which are national companies and which are majors because the
majority of the nationals are becoming internationals,” said Linda
Cook, head of gas and electricity at Anglo-Dutch Shell.
Even their superior technology is not enough, as
national oil companies can appeal to service firms such as
Schlumberger or Technip.
Of course, some like Saudi Aramco, have no
problems in that respect. The Saudi company is developing
“nanorobots” with a diameter of less than the size of a human
hair to look for deep resources in rocks.
But the majors still hold some aces, such as
their expertise in more ambitious projects or their financial bases.
“The increasingly massive size of oil and gas
projects and their complexity ensure that oil companies continue to
play a key role,” as they have the advantage over service
industries of being the sole representative throughout the project,
Ernst and Young said.
“In most of the cases, we [Shell] will
continue establishing alliances with state companies, in their and
our countries, specially with gas, which needs big investments,”
said Linda Cook.
But the majors can longer appear to be preying
on the countries where they are operating.
“We can do a lot of things more than our
regular work, such as education and training,” said de Margerie.
“It is essential for Total to go beyond its traditional role.”
-- AFP
|
