Tank Storage Magazine looks back at another successful and insightful International Energy Week in London, UK
International Energy Week returned to London (UK) at a brand-new venue on 24-26 February 2025. Hosted for the first time at the QEII Centre, the event brought together industry leaders and experts from all over the globe to discuss workable steps towards a cleaner, and more renewable planet, whilst evaluating the complexities of the energy transition. This year’s theme of ‘Navigating the World’s Energy Transitions’ explored the global challenge of maintaining reliable energy systems while meeting net zero commitments. The three-day conference explored strategy, business development, and technological innovation, in regards to the global energy landscape, and discussed once-in-a-generation energy transition opportunities.
Amongst many of the recognisable faces who attended IE Week, was TotalEnergies CEO Patrick Pouyanné, who commented that he ‘will not denounce oil and gas.’ In a conversation with Sandra Sancier- Sultan, senior partner at McKinsey, Pouyanné added that while net zero might be an impossible dream, the energy sector needs to apply the successful fundamentals from the oil and gas industry, into electricity.
He also emphasised the importance of energy diversification. ‘Natural gas, hydrogen, and renewables all have a role to play in this transition. The key is flexibility – being able to shift between sources depending on demand and availability,’ he said.
Regulations and Incentives
As government policies begin to shift towards strict carbon reduction mandates, compliance requirements are to become increasingly complex. Speakers at IE Week urged the industry to stay ahead of regulatory developments. This was not just to ensure that they can avoid penalties, but to unlock new funding opportunities for sustainable projects.
Maria Nochevnik, hydrogen task force expert at the UN Economic Commission for Europe, Fabian Zeigler, CEO at DCC Energy, Lara Naqushbandi, CEO for ETFuels and Clare Harris, executive director at Power2X all came together to discuss emerging low carbon fuels, and the challenges they bring. Harris noted that sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) has some of the strongest mandates the industry has ever seen, and that whilst aviation only actually contributes to 2% of global emissions, it is the fastest growing transport sector. She added: ‘This means that by 2050, the aviation industry will be responsible for 4-5% of emissions, meaning that the introduction of SAF is crucial.’
Looking to the initial steps that policy makers can take, Harris explained that simplicity will be key for the industry. ‘As hard as it can be, we need to ensure policies for new carbon fuels are as simple as possible.’ She continued that, whilst there are a range of benefits to FuelEU Maritime, it is a struggle to explain how it works. In contrast, the Inflation Reduction Act is simple to model, and has resulted in billions of dollars’ worth of investments.
A Global Outlook
Dev Sanyal, CEO of VARO Energy spoke about the energy transition within Europe. He noted that technology will always move faster than governments, meaning that innovation is key to accelerating the energy transition. But he suggested governments need to do more to keep up and support the industry, in order for regulations to not fall behind. Using VARO’s own sustainability goals as an example, Sanyal highlighted the need for infrastructure as critical for the next decade. VARO aims to build infrastructure for 7% of Europe’s SAF needs, contributing to the concept of Europe as an energy hub.
From the technology side, carbon capture is set to be an important factor. With 70x the amount of trees on earth today needed to decarbonise Asia alone, the panel focusing on this region concluded that CCUS is key in here, as well as technology and data in order to better support the energy transition.
Across the globe, the energy transition seems to be moving at a slower pace than initially hoped for. At present, Europe is the only region where oil demand is expected to decline in 2025. China looks to be leading global demand growth for oil, however the focus will shift to petrochemicals as transport fuels combined are in decline.
There is also a wide range of potential impacts on oil demand, depending on the nature and scale of tariffs which could be imposed by the US on its trading partners, after Trump’s re-election. However, the speakers did agree that Trump in office will not change Asia’s commitment to the energy transition.
