The Growth in Global Demand for Energy

I didn’t understand what happened The landscape for energy has become very complex over the last decade. Growth in global demand is causing a strain on traditional fossil fuel supply - oil, gas and coal, particularly oil, which remains the most economic fuel for transportation. Concerns about climate change are driving investment and efforts into technologies that can lead to alternatives to fossil fuels - wind power, hydro-power, geothermal, carbon capture and sequestration. The recent tragedy in Japan has caused doubt on the long term viability of nuclear power, comparable to the effect of the Three Mile incident of 30 years ago. Any alternative to fossil fuels has to demonstrate the ability to scale rapidly and to operate economically at scale - formidable challenges, when one considers it took electricity 4 decades in the US to displace gas as a source of lighting. Security of energy supply has come to the forefront for several governments.

With all this complexity, the ability of existing consulting firms to advise institutions on governments on national energy planning and infrastructure is limited. The breadth of technical experience is simply lacking, and yet there is an opportunity to engage with several developing countries on the planning and infrastructure for their energy needs.

Objectives

1) Provide an accurate representation of the market opportunity for a strategic consulting practice in the increasingly complex energy industry
2) Identify the strategic energy consulting services currently being offered to established major client segments and determine any gaps in service
3) Generate an inventory of strengths and identify capabilities to be developed
4) Develop a recommendation on whether Schlumberger should enter this market and if so, propose a method of