E&P skills relevant for energy transition

A new report from PwC Norway concludes that expertise from numerous disciplines within the oil and gas industry is highly applicable and thus much needed for low carbon industries. The report also provides a roadmap on how to transfer existing competencies to new business.

The E&P industry is often highlighted as a key player in the transition towards a low-carbon society, but there has been uncertainty about how transferable current expertise is, and how companies should organise themselves to take part in new energy industries.

In Norway, an analysis was carried out by PwC in collaboration with Wintershall Dea Norge and Neptune Energy Norway, to identify the extent to which E&P companies possess the competence required to enter new industries such as carbon management and hydrogen.

“The analysis is a valuable starting point for us to plan the development and transfer of the competences of our people into new areas such as CCS and hydrogen”, said Tone Samuelsen, Vice President HR in Wintershall Dea Norge.

The analysis confirms that E&P companies have unique expertise that is largely transferable to new industries such as CCS, hydrogen, and offshore wind.

27 different competence areas across 13 E&P disciplines were analysed. For each of these, transferability of knowledge and skills were assessed, resulting in an overview of the competence gaps that must be addressed in the transition to new areas, and which measures can be applied to close the gaps.

“In many competence areas, it is more about minor adjustments and measures to be able to transfer and utilise these, than to acquire completely new knowledge”, said Anne-Lene Festervoll, partner in PwC.

Another key finding is that it currently is a challenge in the transition to new industries to understand the new value chains. This is not easy as regulatory framework conditions from the authorities are not yet in place. The industry needs a clear framework from the authorities to succeed in the new industries.

_{About Wintershall Dea}

^{Wintershall Dea is Europe’s leading independent natural gas and oil company with more than 120 years of experience as an operator and project partner along the entire E&P value chain. The company with German roots and headquarters in Kassel and Hamburg explores for and produces gas and oil in 13 countries worldwide in an efficient and responsible manner. With activities in Europe, Russia, Latin America and the MENA region (Middle East & North Africa), Wintershall Dea has a global upstream portfolio and, with its participation in natural gas transport, is also active in the midstream business. More in our Annual Report.}

^{As a European gas and oil company, we support the EU's 2050 carbon neutrality target. As our contribution we have set ourselves ambitious targets: We want to be net zero across our entire upstream operations – both operated and non-operated – by 2030. This includes Scope 1 (direct) and Scope 2 (indirect) greenhouse gas emissions on an equity share basis. In addition Wintershall Dea will bring methane emissions intensity below 0.1 per cent by 2025 and maintain zero routine flaring of associated gas in its operations. The climate goals are to be achieved through portfolio optimization, emissions reduction through more energy efficiency, investments in nature-based compensation solutions and in future technologies such as hydrogen and CCS. You can find more about this in our Sustainability Report.}

^{Wintershall Dea was formed from the merger of Wintershall Holding GmbH and DEA Deutsche Erdoel AG, in 2019. Today, the company employs around 2,500 people worldwide from almost 60 nations.}