BDO, one of the leading accountancy and business advisory firms in the UK, has published its UK Oil and Gas Annual Report 2024.
The report highlights technological advancements and investment activities of UK oil and gas companies.
It also takes a closer look at sustainability trends as well as the regulatory environment impacting the industry.
This compilation of useful information comes as the oil and gas industry in the country faces huge uncertainty, with a new government in power preparing the next budget.
Stakeholders are also watching and waiting to see what will happen around new licences and any tax legislation as predictions on the direction of travel in terms of policy and tax fly about.
Key findings
BDO’s report shares several key findings, including the fact that only the largest UK-based oil and gas firms increased their revenues in 2023.
Global oil and gas consumption is also forecasted to peak by 2030 as the market share of road transport shrinks.
Adam Barallon, audit director at BDO, shares: “When you read through some of the data, it makes for some quite confronting reading in isolation for the oil and gas industry. I think it can be slightly misconstrued that the world suddenly needs to completely cease its support entirely of the oil and gas industry to meet the global and local requirements of various net zero commitments.
“But when you look at some of the trends, you realise that it’s not really as simple as that. Whilst the world is moving towards that net zero commitment, it still needs oil and gas to remain an important part of the energy mix for quite a number of years to come.
“And it’s going to be some of those larger players in the market that lead on the journey to net zero in the way that they adapt to energy transition strategies. What we’ll see is they’ll pave the way for best practises in terms of that transition. Then you’ll see smaller companies and producers emulate some of those methods.”
Key growth opportunities
Adam says: “There are three key growth opportunities that we highlight through the report.
“Firstly, there is the opportunity around decarbonisation as companies need to balance the rising demand for petroleum products with the pressure to shift towards low carbon energy sources. That’s a crucial area for the future of oil and gas companies in the UK specifically.
“There’s also an increasing appetite to adapt to a less carbon intensive energy mix. That’s the sort of growth that you see in renewables and clean energy. One of the takeaways is that investments in clean energy are nearly double those that are in fossil fuels globally.
“The third area is the need to enhance operational performance by increasing investments in a more energy efficient operation.”
BDO helps you navigate challenges & opportunities
BDO, the fifth largest accounting firm in the UK, hopes its report provides invaluable insights and inspires discussion and debate within the oil and gas sector.
The firm, which provides tax audit assurance advisory and business outsourcing services to companies across many sectors, believes the report will be most beneficial to finance teams in the industry as well as those in any kind of sister sector.
© Supplied by BDOAdam says: “We want to show how we at BDO can help navigate those trends we’ve identified through research. We can assist in establishing or improving corporate reporting, particularly with a growing focus now in the ESG and decarbonisation space.
“We can also provide expert and specialist tax advice, be it restructurings, payroll or R&D advice. Our commercial advisory experts can also help in enhancing supply chains and managing key contracts effectively.”
Access the UK Oil and Gas Annual Report 2024 on BDO’s website.
You can also subscribe to BDO’s natural resources and energy mailing list for more market information that will be useful for your business.
Recommended for you
