Gulfnews: Get used to oil nationalism, says Shell

Gulfnews: Get used to oil nationalism, says Shell: ", Financial Times


Rising oil prices and the consequent shift of power in favour of resource-rich countries such as Venezuela, Russia and Saudi Arabia, have left demand for the traditional services of international oil companies waning. Petro-states with increasingly sophisticated national oil companies no longer need foreign help to extract oil and gas.

This has brought the renegotiation of contracts, exclusion of foreign companies from projects and a host of demands on international groups that range from funding local schools to involvement in electricity or refining sectors.

Bolivia is the latest country to change the rules, taking full control of its gas fields from companies including Petrobras of Brazil, Repsol of Spain and the UK's BG.

Chief executives from some of the world's biggest energy groups have revealed in a series of interviews with the FT their different approaches to tackling the massive shift that has left their companies struggling to redefine themselves.

Jeroen van der Veer, chief executive of Royal Dutch Shell, Europe's second-largest listed energy group, says international oil companies have to 'take it how it is, take a deep breath, sometimes cut a fresh deal, and keep on moving'."