Dateline 2021-09-09, The Edge:
NATIONAL oil company Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) is going through a period of transition, and could undertake asset divestments, acquisitions into new businesses and other corporate exercises — all of which could dampen earnings in the near term at least.
These changes come at a time when the global economy is being ravaged by the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic and there is a shift away from oil as a source of fuel as environmental, social and governance (ESG) awareness makes cleaner options more desirable. Electric cars are catching on, threatening to sideline internal combustion engines.
“There is one very aggressive consultancy that has told us [oil is going to peak] in the next one or two years. Yes, that soon, mainly because of the convergence of all the OEM (original equipment manufacturer) carmakers,” says Petronas president and group CEO Tengku Muhammad Taufik, in explaining the challenging outlook.
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