PODCAST: BP disposal raises questions over petchems as oil and gas sector lifeline

Tom Brown

29-Jun-2020

LONDON (ICIS)–BP’s decision to sell the bulk of its petrochemicals assets raises questions over the narrative of the sector as a saviour for the oil and gas industry, as some players start to look  beyond the hydrocarbon era.

– Peak oil demand may have been reached last year

– Oil majors may be starting to look beyond fossil fuels toward post-hydrocarbon industry drivers

– Trend toward zero-emissions regulation may leave sectors such as recycling more attractive

– Rise in coronavirus infection rates raise fears for industry

– China may become a polypropylene (PP) exporter in the next few years

– Pandemic may drive supply chain reshoring as manufacturing reinvents itself

– Protracted period of energy oversupply undercuts the idea of cost-advantaged feedstocks.

Listen to this podcast interview with Paul Hodges, chairman at consultancy International eChem; John Richardson, ICIS Senior Consultant, Asia;  ICIS Insight Editor Nigel Davis.

Front page picture: BP’s logo above a trading post on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange
Source: Richard Drew/AP/Shutterstock

Podcast interview by Tom Brown

Read more analysis of chemical market trends in this week’s ICIS Chemical Business.

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