BP and Baker Hughes executives offer contrasting energy investment outlooks
Energy leaders see demand from AI and electrification, but warn that prices, conflict and project timelines complicate spending.
By Jordan Bell · Startups & Deals Reporter
· 3 min read
The energy investment outlook 2026 is being shaped by two forces moving at once: executives see rising demand for power and fuel, while facing uncertainty over prices, conflict and the long timelines of major projects. Speaking at the ADIPEC conference in Abu Dhabi, Baker Hughes CEO Lorenzo Simonelli described a long-term expansion case, while BP CEO Meg O’Neill stressed the need for caution in planning.
For investors, the discussion points to a sector where demand expectations may support spending on equipment and infrastructure, but where executives are still weighing difficult assumptions before committing capital.
Simonelli told CNBC that artificial intelligence, population growth and developing economies should keep global energy consumption growing over the coming years. He called the period ahead a “demand decade” and said the need for added infrastructure should support higher capital investment over time.
Baker Hughes expects industry activity to increase by a low-single-digit percentage in 2027, Simonelli said. That is an outlook from the company’s chief executive, rather than a guarantee of industry growth.
What could rising energy demand require?
Simonelli said the Middle East conflict had highlighted the need for a more resilient energy system. He identified additional storage, more pipelines and the removal of existing choke points, or bottlenecks that restrict the movement of energy, as areas that could require investment.
Schneider Electric CEO Olivier Blum separately told CNBC that some projects in the Persian Gulf had slowed because of the conflict. Still, he said the medium-term opportunity for additional infrastructure had increased.
Simonelli has also previously tied the demand outlook to data centers, gas infrastructure and power generation. In September, Baker Hughes said it estimated installed liquefied natural gas capacity may need to reach 900 million tonnes per year by 2035 to meet demand. That figure is a company estimate, not an independent forecast.
Why are energy companies still cautious about investing?
O’Neill said the wide range of global energy-demand forecasts is a central issue for investment decisions. Oil and gas developments can take years to build and can stay in production for decades, making those differing forecasts relevant when companies plan projects, she said.
She also said BP needs to plan for a lower-price environment because oil-price assumptions remain uncertain. RWE CEO Markus Krebber likewise said AI and electrification are increasing electricity demand, but geopolitical tensions, supply-chain pressures and higher interest rates are making investment decisions more difficult.
Krebber said expanded computing capacity and the power systems supporting it are likely to arrive, though probably more slowly than planned buildouts might suggest.
The supply outlook adds another conditional risk. Richard Bronze, co-founder and head of geopolitics at Energy Aspects, told CNBC that supply-and-demand forecasts point to an oversupplied oil market in 2027 and 2028 if Middle Eastern oil flows return to normal.
Those views do not resolve where prices or investment will go. They show why energy companies are separating their long-term demand expectations from the immediate decisions needed to fund and build projects.
This story draws on original reporting from CNBC.
