An oil and gas banking expert said today that capital is still available to the sector, but with green tinge.
Mark Munro, Aberdeen-based senior vice president at DNB, a Norwegian financial services group, said the upstream sector continued to attract plenty of investment.
But lenders’ expectations are changing, Mr Munro said during a webinar hosted by OGUK.
He said DNB clients should have investment strategies which are linked to the energy transition.
For oil companies, this could mean investing in renewables projects, or, in the case of pure-play exploration and production firms, taking serious action to cut emissions from their operations.
“That’s the type of action the capital providers are looking to see, but there is funding available for sure,” Mr Munro said.
He said firms were changing with the times, citing the examples of Premier Oil, which has committed to net-zero operations at its fields by 2030, while Zennor Petroleum is using carbon offset programmes to go “carbon neutral”.
Mr Munro said: “Companies have to change because there is an expectation from customers, capital providers and regulators.
“People want to purchase 100% green energy for their homes. We’re seeing investors such as Aviva demand that their investment companies go carbon neutral by 2040.
“We’re seeing sustainability linked loans in the North Sea and the reporting of climate risks becoming mandatory.
“Change is happening and there’s no going back.”
