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Mid-Nickel",103.5,99.73,3.78,13.78,6.78,[518,519,520,522,524,526,528,530,532,534,536,538],{"date":213,"value":512},{"date":216,"value":513},{"date":219,"value":521},99.19,{"date":222,"value":523},96.02,{"date":225,"value":525},98.23,{"date":467,"value":527},99.24,{"date":329,"value":529},101.29,{"date":339,"value":531},87.61,{"date":341,"value":533},92.44,{"date":344,"value":535},90.96,{"date":347,"value":537},92.24,{"date":350,"value":539},95.09,{"id":541,"uuid":542,"name":543,"slug":544,"full_slug":545,"content":546,"relatedArticles":751,"relatedVideos":752},112471847590687,"ab4ab3d9-60ad-4099-bd9c-78f651543b1b","Will oil and gas companies invest in the battery supply chain? Q&A with Ahmed Mehdi","will-oil-and-gas-companies-invest-in-the-battery-supply-chain-qa-with-ahmed-mehdi","article/will-oil-and-gas-companies-invest-in-the-battery-supply-chain-qa-with-ahmed-mehdi",{"_uid":547,"date":548,"tags":549,"editor":556,"content":566,"excerpt":723,"featured":50,"reporter":724,"_editable":728,"component":729,"seo_title":543,"categories":730,"visibility":743,"author_company":49,"featured_image":744,"seo_description":723,"author_full_name":49,"author_job_title":49,"formattedDate":749,"formattedArticleDate":750},"5df21e87-27ba-4339-a81d-851dc762121a","2023-02-09 00:00",[550,553],{"slug":551,"name":552},"oil","Oil",{"slug":554,"name":555},"qa","Q&A",[557],{"slug":558,"name":559,"content":560},"didi-bostock","Didi Bostock",{"job_title":561,"image":562,"bio":564,"linkedin":565},"Editor - Energy Transition & Economics",{"filename":563},"https://a.storyblok.com/f/287943243085208/512x512/2c5ca5c1a3/didi-bostock.jpeg","Didi is the Energy Transition & Economics Editor at Benchmark, covering a broad range of markets across the energy transition. His remit spans from downstream sectors such as BESS and EVs, through to midstream such as new technologies and battery production, to upstream critical minerals mining. He also leads on financial analysis across these supply chains, alongside in-depth policy analysis.\n","https://www.linkedin.com/in/didi-bostock-656342198/",{"type":567,"content":568},"doc",[569,576,581,596,601,606,613,618,623,636,641,646,651,656,663,668,673,678,683,688,693,698,703,708,713,718],{"type":570,"attrs":571,"content":572},"paragraph",{"textAlign":49},[573],{"text":574,"type":575},"The five largest Western oil companies including ExxonMobil, Shell and BP, have just reported record profits of more than $196 billion for 2022 due to high oil and gas prices. ","text",{"type":570,"attrs":577,"content":578},{"textAlign":49},[579],{"text":580,"type":575},"But will they use some of this money to become involved in the lithium ion battery supply chain? And where will they invest? ",{"type":570,"attrs":582,"content":583},{"textAlign":49},[584,586,594],{"text":585,"type":575},"From Schlumberger’s move to build a lithium extraction pilot plant in Nevada to Shell’s agreement to supply sulphur to ",{"text":587,"type":575,"marks":588},"lithium developer Ioneer",[589],{"type":590,"attrs":591},"link",{"href":592,"uuid":49,"anchor":49,"target":49,"linktype":593},"https://source.benchmarkminerals.com/article/us-doe-backs-domestic-lithium-with-700-million-ioneer-loan","url",{"text":595,"type":575}," in the US, we have seen tentative signs of involvement. ",{"type":570,"attrs":597,"content":598},{"textAlign":49},[599],{"text":600,"type":575},"Many teams inside oil companies are busy screening opportunities in both lithium and the anode value chain. Outside western oil company boardrooms, ambitious players such as Saudi Arabia are also seeking to play a role in the supply chain, ensuring they have a seat at the table in one of the fastest growing industries this century.",{"type":570,"attrs":602,"content":603},{"textAlign":49},[604],{"text":605,"type":575},"Benchmark Source spoke to Ahmed Mehdi, Principal at Benchmark leading the company’s work with the global energy industry, to find out more. ",{"type":607,"attrs":608,"content":610},"heading",{"level":609,"textAlign":49},4,[611],{"text":612,"type":575},"We’ve just seen oil companies report a record haul for 2022 yet there is talk from some oil companies that they will focus on oil and gas more than renewables now, does this represent a setback? ",{"type":570,"attrs":614,"content":615},{"textAlign":49},[616],{"text":617,"type":575},"I think that it’s simplistic to say that it’s a retreat from low carbon projects, actually. So BP when I looked at the numbers, they had record profits of $28 billion last year, but actually they said they’re going to spend $8 billion more on on low carbon portfolio businesses – that’s biofuels, renewables, wind, hydrogen and also ventures that they’ve already made in the battery supply chain like downstream charging … But the reality is when they announced a 40% cut in oil production [by 2030] shareholders punished them for that … It’s win-win the margins you get from fossil fuel production go towards building out and scaling out your low carbon ventures and actually last year was a record year for oil and gas companies investments in renewable projects. And the pipeline will become even bigger over the next decade. Particularly, you know, you’re already seeing companies like Eni moving into hydrogen, BP and Shell moving into things like renewable gas acquisitions, but then also into the battery supply chain.",{"type":607,"attrs":619,"content":620},{"level":609,"textAlign":49},[621],{"text":622,"type":575},"We’ve seen oil companies investing in downstream charging as you mentioned – will we see them move upstream at all?",{"type":570,"attrs":624,"content":625},{"textAlign":49},[626,628,634],{"text":627,"type":575},"I think so. I think that one of the trends that I’ve seen in the last year or two has been basically oil majors examining routes for upstream involvement, primarily in ",{"text":629,"type":575,"marks":630},"lithium",[631],{"type":590,"attrs":632},{"href":633,"uuid":49,"anchor":49,"target":49,"linktype":593},"https://source.benchmarkminerals.com/video/watch/analyst-insights-what-is-happening-in-the-lithium-market",{"text":635,"type":575},". And the reality is that you know, the next generation of lithium supply will require developing asset types not yet tested on a major commercial scale. So, sedimentary, geothermal brines, oilfield brines, these kinds of things, and actually the oil industry sees that it can bring a lot to the table. ",{"type":570,"attrs":637,"content":638},{"textAlign":49},[639],{"text":640,"type":575},"It already has experience in scaling technologies that were pretty transformational for the oil and gas market, like hydraulic fracturing in the US shale patch, a source of unconventional supply that really transformed oil and gas markets the past decade. In the last few years they’ve launched Net Zero targets so they have a lot of experience in decarbonizing their upstream operations, which is obviously becoming a bigger issue in the battery supply chain with ESG rising and carbon intensity credentials basically being questioned. And actually carbon intensity is a growing focus for the oil industry and that plays into their portfolio selection. And also when you look at the capital intensities for new lithium chemical projects, they’re actually pretty low. ",{"type":570,"attrs":642,"content":643},{"textAlign":49},[644],{"text":645,"type":575},"The lithium industry only really needs around $45 to $50 billion to meet 2030 demand. So, compare that to the oil and gas industry, which needs about $400 billion to $500 billion per year, just to meet its demand. ",{"type":570,"attrs":647,"content":648},{"textAlign":49},[649],{"text":650,"type":575},"So the biggest interest is in unconventional lithium supply and what role next generation DLE technologies can play. And that’s what the oil majors have been really busy looking at – studying flow sheets, conventional flow sheets, and then how they can be involved. There’s a lot of interest in licensing DLE technology and applying the experiences that the US may just had with hydraulic fracking technologies to apply to these unconventional lithium asset types.",{"type":607,"attrs":652,"content":653},{"level":609,"textAlign":49},[654],{"text":655,"type":575},"Is needle coke or synthetic graphite an area of interest, given that needle coke comes from oil refining? ",{"type":570,"attrs":657,"content":658},{"textAlign":49},[659,661],{"text":660,"type":575},"I think the anode value chain is often neglected and not talked about enough when talking about both commercial opportunities, but also constraints in the battery supply chain. It’s also not necessarily an area where China has full leverage [due to its need to import low-sulphur needle coke.] Needle coke’s importance is just going to grow over the next decade. Because it’s about very specific grades of needle coke that are required for high performance EVs, particularly for Western OEMs. The key is that",{"text":662,"type":575},"the quality of needle coke has a direct impact on the structure of the finished graphite material, with higher quality feedstocks produced by the likes of P66 being the most preferred due to higher crystallinity and how this improves thermal conductivity. Whilst China is the largest needle coke supplier globally, it’s not all premium quality. In fact, sulphur quality of needle coke is becoming a bigger problem and blending strategies are now being deployed to try and manage this issue.",{"type":570,"attrs":664,"content":665},{"textAlign":49},[666],{"text":667,"type":575},"The reality is, is that you know, from the balances that we have developed, basically the planned supply growth at the moment is going to be outweighed by the demand and actually you’re going to start to see deficits build up significantly, from about 2026 onwards. The drivers are not only from the battery industry but also the steel industry as the world shifts from traditional blast furnace method of steel making to lower-emission electric arc furnace methods. This will drive needle coke demand from the Ultra High Power (UHP) graphite electode market.",{"type":570,"attrs":669,"content":670},{"textAlign":49},[671],{"text":672,"type":575},"So there’s a growing interest now by downstream divisions at major oil companies to examine how they can convert cokers to produce needle coke. What makes the economics of needle coke attractive is not only the demand drivers that I talked about and the projected need for new supply in terms of the balances but also the fact that there’s really quite valuable byproducts involved with needle coke production. So you’ve got naphtha and gasoil. For petrochemical players, this offers a direct value integration play to both hedge product volatility and have direct exposure to the battery market. So it’s a nice kind of diversification play for them.",{"type":607,"attrs":674,"content":675},{"level":609,"textAlign":49},[676],{"text":677,"type":575},"What role does the Middle East play in the energy transition? We think of the region as a possible loser from a shift to clean energy but could they be a winner? How is Saudi Arabia positioning itself to benefit? ",{"type":570,"attrs":679,"content":680},{"textAlign":49},[681],{"text":682,"type":575},"This idea of putting sort of winners and losers I think is a bit unhelpful because at the end of the day why would you get rid of your biggest low cost, biggest margin type business? The trade off is not such that you have to give that up and move on to something else. Instead, it’s about resilience. How do you basically make your portfolio resilient for the energy transition? ",{"type":570,"attrs":684,"content":685},{"textAlign":49},[686],{"text":687,"type":575},"So there’s a lot of focus on trying to ensure that your upstream portfolio has a low carbon intensity, which basically means cutting flaring, reducing methane emissions, and integrating renewables into your production process. This explains the strong interest in Carbon Capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) technologies in the region. ",{"type":570,"attrs":689,"content":690},{"textAlign":49},[691],{"text":692,"type":575},"The reality is that the Middle East’s market power in global energy markets will only grow this decade. But there is nothing contradictory with, for example, Saudi increasing maximum capacity to 13m b/d by mid-2020s or the UAE increasing oil production capacity and also having aggressive renewable energy targets. ",{"type":570,"attrs":694,"content":695},{"textAlign":49},[696],{"text":697,"type":575},"Displacing liquids from your power mix, for example, allows you to increase crude exports…which means higher margins to invest in low-carbon projects. ",{"type":570,"attrs":699,"content":700},{"textAlign":49},[701],{"text":702,"type":575},"For LNG, the story is similar: Qatar’s leadership in the global gas business is now a reality and there is some anxiety in the region that cutting fossil fuels from the energy transition debate actually marks a step backward, not forward. Without your baseload gas, renewables can’t grow. Likewise, cutting oil supply before demand just makes decarbonisation pathways more challenging. ",{"type":570,"attrs":704,"content":705},{"textAlign":49},[706],{"text":707,"type":575},"So, I think these points are now being heard and the UAE – the climate leader in the region – is hosting the COP [climate conference] this year and have already made some excellent strides. They also announced a strategic partnership with the United States to mobilise about $100 billion to finance clean energy projects globally.",{"type":570,"attrs":709,"content":710},{"textAlign":49},[711],{"text":712,"type":575},"In terms of the battery supply chain in Saudi they look at some of the success stories historically, like for example, Maaden [state mining company] and Alcoa which allowed them to actually build an aluminium industry in the Kingdom. And then so that’s why the kind of model that they’re applying now – it’s going to be Maaden and PIF to put actual dollars into overseas projects. And they’ve already announced a sort of a spending plan to bring material also potentially into the Kingdom. So it’s still early days, but I think eventually they want to basically have a seat at the table in the battery supply chain. They don’t want to miss the boat on this. ",{"type":570,"attrs":714,"content":715},{"textAlign":49},[716],{"text":717,"type":575},"EV Metals has plans to build a lithium hydroxide refinery in Yanbu. What would probably make sense eventually is to have a kind of hub where you’ve got someone like EV Metals supplying a cathode plant. Lucid is also currently working with a cell manufacturer to set up in the Kingdom. ",{"type":570,"attrs":719,"content":720},{"textAlign":49},[721],{"text":722,"type":575},"The problem is with the IRA coming into play and with Australia being an FTA country, the flows [of lithium] are incentivized to move to the US before it does to Saudi Arabia. ","The five largest Western oil companies including ExxonMobil, Shell and BP, have just reported record profits of more than $196 billion for 2022 due to high oil and gas prices. But will they use some of this money to become involved in the lithium ion battery supply chain? And where will they invest? From Schlumberger’s […]",[725],{"slug":558,"name":559,"content":726},{"job_title":561,"image":727,"bio":564,"linkedin":565},{"filename":563},"\u003C!--#storyblok#{\"name\": \"article\", \"space\": \"\", \"uid\": \"5df21e87-27ba-4339-a81d-851dc762121a\", \"id\": \"\"}-->","article",[731,733,736,737,740],{"slug":732,"name":261},"anode",{"slug":734,"name":735},"batteries","Batteries",{"slug":629,"name":8},{"slug":738,"name":739},"new-energy","New Energy",{"slug":741,"name":742},"sustainability","Sustainability","private",{"id":49,"alt":745,"name":745,"focus":745,"title":745,"source":745,"filename":746,"copyright":745,"fieldtype":747,"meta_data":748,"is_external_url":51},"","https://a.storyblok.com/f/287943243085208/e9148751bc/bm-headshot.png","asset",{"alt":745,"title":745,"source":745,"copyright":745},"Feb 09, 2023","9th February 2023",[],[],1783093138291]