An inescapable theme from this issue of Petroleum Review is the importance of research and development (R&D) and technological advances in enabling the energy industry to meet global energy demand, whilst at the same time meeting society's expectations of social and environmental performance as well as ensuring security of supply. Investment by energy companies in R&D and technological developments on the back of this to help them meet the increasing operational challenges is significant across all sectors of the energy industry. The International Energy Agency's (IEA) calculation (as quoted on p24) that around $38tn of investment in new technologies will be needed between now and 2035 in order to meet growing global energy demand is testament to how significant an issue this will remain.
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