This is When Galp Will Drill Last Frontier Exploration Well

Galp’s chief executive officer Andy Brown announced when the company will drill its last frontier exploration well at an on-stage interview at the Web Summit in Lisbon, Portugal, which was attended by Rigzone.

“I think the last well we will spud, in frontier exploration, will be January next year and that will be the last one,” Brown said.

“We’re the first integrated oil and gas company to say that and that is a real commitment. We have discovered enough, we have now to focus on building our renewable energy portfolio, building our network of EV chargers,” he added.

During the interview, Brown highlighted that the company had launched a new strategy recently and that Galp’s share price hadn’t responded favorably.

“We launched a new strategy in June … new purpose, let’s regenerate the future, half our money going into renewable energy, and our share price has come down quite dramatically since,” he said.

“That actually is, you know, we’re doing the right thing but we’re not getting rewarded in the capital markets … We’re still seen as an oil and gas company and we’ve shifted our focus and had a very big growth trajectory in oil production and the market is a bit disappointed and the market is saying ‘well what is Galp now – do we understand where Galp is going in the future?’ – so our shareholders are questioning us,” Brown added.

“We’re going to grow and decarbonize the sector and grow our cashflows and grow our dividends but one of our shareholders owns a third of our stock … and … they’re quite influential in the board of Galp … and they are determined to drive this transition … I get full support from them to actually have a patience to make this big change and so we’re on a very exciting journey, but we just need patience and professionalism,” the Galp CEO went on to say.

Galp’s upstream project portfolio focuses on Brazil, Mozambique, Angola, Namibia and Sao Tome and Principe, the company’s website shows. By 2030, the company is aiming for a 40 percent reduction in absolute emissions from operations, a 40 percent drop in production carbon intensity and a 50 percent reduction in absolute emissions from industrial activities, all compared to a 2017 baseline, Galp’s website shows. By 2050, Galp is aiming for scope 1, 2 and 3 net zero emissions.

To contact the author, email andreas.exarheas@rigzone.com