- Recovering oil and gas prices to aid in new energy push
- Refiner looking to repurpose some of its gasification assets
- Blue hydrogen gives Reliance first mover advantage: Platts Analytics
Reliance Industries is aiming to capitalize on its strong oil and gas presence by expanding its blue hydrogen footprint, a move that will help India’s biggest refiner to strike a balance between pushing cost-effective clean energy while keeping focus on its traditional fossil fuel businesses, reports Platts.
Dramatic recovery in crude oil and gas prices
Analysts said that while a dramatic recovery in crude oil and gas prices had created opportunities for the company’s oil and gas businesses in both the upstream and downstream sectors, the company is keen to expand its presence in blue hydrogen until green hydrogen costs come down.
As oil demand and prices staged a recovery, Reliance saw its crude throughput in the October-December quarter rising 8.2% year on year to 19.7 million mt, while its refining margins have also improved sharply.
Analysts said the company’s robust performance of its traditional oil and gas business would help to fund new energy initiatives.
“The focus of Reliance on its traditional oil and gas business will continue to remain. But as the energy scenario is set to change, Reliance will be increasingly focusing on oil-to-chemicals, blue hydrogen as well as green hydrogen. It is very well-positioned to do that with the right kind of assets,” Ravinder Kumar Malhotra, former director general of the Federation of Indian Petroleum Industry, told S&P Global Platts.
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Source: Platts
