Friday, December 12, 2025 | 06:31 AM ISTहिंदी में पढें
Business Standard
Notification Icon
userprofile IconSearch

Big Oil was already in decline; Covid-19 has been like an asteroid strike

The pandemic won't bring about the imminent demise of companies, but it will almost certainly hasten their metamorphosis.

gas, petrol, crude, oil, diesel, price, economy
premium

Big Oil faces a changing world.

Julian Lee | Bloomberg
Covid-19 may do for Big Oil what the Chicxulub asteroid did for the dinosaurs when it struck Earth 66 million years ago.

Much like the “terrible lizards,” Big Oil was already in decline before the novel coronavirus hit. The world in which they thrived is changing around them and they face multiple threats to their future health. But the outbreak’s impact has accelerated the process.

The pandemic has slashed oil demand, taking prices down with it. Producers everywhere were slow to react. Now the recovery is taking longer than initially expected, as infection rates remain stubbornly high in the