The CEO of British multinational oil and gas conglomerate BP has said that that creating new partnerships was essential in order to keep pace and evolve in what it is becoming a rapidly changing and unpredictable global economy.

The BP CEO, Bob Dudley made the comments during his Global Business Leaders panel session at ADIPEC 2018 in Abu Dhabi. The theme of the discussion was entitled - Widening the Partnership Circle: Collaboration, Innovation, Policy Formation and Globalization.

Dudley said that the oil and gas industry was very, very unusual in terms of partnerships because the companies within the industry are always competing with each other for major projects, but then countered his own point by highlighting that they are also partners in various other projects globally.

Dudley said, “We work with national oil companies, but now there is also a new form of partnership. The Fourth Industrial Revolution is coming so fast and we have to work together for things like standardization and developing more models of working with suppliers. Climate change is another area to respond with partnerships.”

He illustrated his point further by highlighting the oil and gas industry’s efforts to address climate change and reduce methane and other greenhouse gas emissions.

Dudley added, “The Oil and Gas Climate Initiative (OGCI) has 13 companies so far and I’m sure more will join in the future. The initiative aims to set targets for the oil and gas industry to reduce emissions and we have set a budget of $1 billion for methane detection and monitoring, which we want to share with the world.”

The BP CEO also said that the oil and gas industry was falling behind other major industries in terms of embracing digitalization.

Dudley concluded by saying, “The automotive, airline and retail industries are faster moving than us and quicker to change. The world is moving at a very fast pace and our companies need to adapt now.