SINGAPORE: On Jan 28, the world’s largest rig-builder, Singapore-based Keppel Corporation surprised industry players and observers when it announced exiting away from its rig business to pivot to clean energy.
For instance, the world’s largest asset manager BlackRock, with nearly US$7 trillion in investments, has said that it will consciously make investment decisions with environmental sustainability as a core. READ: Commentary: Besides talking about responsibility, global collective climate action should also be a focus
Thing is, many industries are still heavily dependent on oil. These include the airline industry, the farming sector and industrial systems that rely not only on the low cost of oil, but the fact that oil is also readily available. Op Co will focus on the growing areas of renewables and gas solutions, which should dovetail into Keppel Corp’s Vision 2030 of generating a return on equity of 15 per cent.
In its latest full-year results, Keppel’s Offshore & Marine division confessed to an operating loss of S$909.6 million on revenue of S$1.57 billion.