Aker group's billionaire owner eyes less dependence on oil

Aker Carbon Capture ASA

16/09/2020 14:27

By Nerijus Adomaitis
    OSLO, Sept 16 (Reuters) - Norway's Aker ASA  AKER.OL  will
create more value from IT and low carbon energy businesses in
the next decade than from its traditional oil and gas
operations, billionaire investor Kjell Inge Roekke said on
Wednesday.
    Via his 67% stake in the Aker group, Roekke is also the
largest owner of Norwegian oil and gas firm Aker BP  AKERBP.OL 
as well as several major suppliers to the oil industry,
including Aker Solutions  AKES.OL  and Kvaerner  KVAER.OL .
    He invested heavily in cheap oil and gas exploration and
production assets during the industry's 2014-2016 downturn,
benefiting strongly when crude prices recovered in the following
years.
    But while oil related holdings made up 61% of Aker's assets
of 34.3 billion Norwegian crowns ($3.8 billion) in the second
quarter, IT and low carbon will hopefully represent "between 50%
and two-thirds" of assets within five to 10 years, Roekke said.
    "What we do in the green space is also exciting. That
doesn't mean that Aker BP and oil and gas will be of lower value
than it is today, but the value mix in Aker would fundamentally
change over the next few years," Roekke told an energy
conference.
    In 2016, Aker set up industrial software company Cognite,
targeting big-data digitalisation processes at oil companies and
other industries as they seek to improve efficiency and reduce
costs.
    Last year, Cognite opened offices in Tokyo and Texas and
doubled its revenue to 340 million Norwegian crowns. However, it
still accounts for only a fraction of Aker's overall assets. 
    Aker has previously said it planned to list the software
firm in the future.
    Companies servicing the oil and gas sector, including Aker
Solutions, were hit particularly hard by spending cuts in the
industry, as the COVID-19 pandemic slashed demand for fossil
fuels.
    Aker in July announced a major restructuring, merging Aker
Solutions and Kvaerner while spinning off its carbon capture and
offshore wind business into separate companies as it sought to
attract investors focused on the environment.
    
($1 = 8.9833 Norwegian crowns)

 (Editing by Terje Solsvik and David Evans)
 ((terje.solsvik@thomsonreuters.com; +47 918 666 70))