May 26 - The best way for oil companies to survive the current low prices is to remain integrated, according to Ed Osterwald, senior partner, CEG Europe. Oil companies such as BP that sell refineries when margins are low will suffer more and might not eve

He suggested that Canada, in a sense, is in the same situation that the Middle East was in 30 or 40 years ago; Canada is now realising that it needed to invest in adding value to its natural reserves with processing and chemical plants. 

"Just because oil prices go down, it does not always mean there is no investment," he said. But it is a mixed message for the heavy lift and project forwarders attending the exhibition as history shows that when oil prices go down, capital, labour and other costs go down as well.

Osterwald predicted that renewable energy sources would replace coal but that oil and gas would continue to be vital until the technological solutions for mass energy storage were found. 

www.ceg-global.com

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