The future looks bright for the oil and gas industry as world energy consumption keeps growing. The IEA expects oil demand to rise to 125 million barrels per day in 2020 from today’s 106 million barrels. But the reality is also that global oil production is declining fast; this year it will drop 6 per cent. In addition, we find ourselves in an increasingly crowded market of a variety of national and international players. We all compete for a smaller number of opportunities to explore for and develop oil and gas in more challenging areas under increasingly challenging operational environments. So we need to revive our commitment to technology and human innovation.

The starting point must be to work closer together. It is only through trusting partnerships – with our peers, with the service industry and with governments – that we can meet world demand for energy. Partnerships will allow us to explore previously impossible regions and develop the technology to access oil and gas thought to be inaccessible or non-commercial.

At Maersk Oil, we have just launched our new TriGen technology together with our partners, Siemens and Clean Energy Systems. TriGen is a good example of what could be the next generation of oil and gas development.

TriGen is a power generator the size of a shipping container which burns gas with pure oxygen to produce clean power, pure water and ‘reservoir ready’ carbon dioxide. The gas can come from stranded fields, finally unlocking their resources. The high purity CO₂ is captured, making the power generation emission-free, and can be transported to oil and gas fields for Enhanced Oil or Gas Recovery. TriGen has the potential to commercialise hydrocarbon resources which have so far remained undeveloped and boost recovery in mature fields, while supplying local populations with clean water and power.

TriGen is a real step-out for a purely upstream company like Maersk Oil. It is a unique product which, for the first time, joins oil and gas production with power generation in one integrated project. It involves innovative partnerships that share knowledge and technology, and will require close collaboration with NOCs and other resource holders as well as players in the power and water sectors. The prize is significant but no company can solve future challenges alone.