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Who we are
Overview: about the EBRDWho we are
Overview: about the EBRD
Our story
Explore the EBRD’s journey over the decades, investing in businesses, supporting economies and driving lasting change across its regions.
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Overview: how the EBRD operatesWhat we do
Overview: how the EBRD operates
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Across three continents, the EBRD supports the transition to successful market economies.
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Overview: how you can work with the EBRD
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Light
Eng
Eng
Evaluation of Hydrocarbon Projects
March 2021
Background
The Hydrocarbon Cluster Evaluation covered 6 hydrocarbon projects, and sought to identify common trends, lessons and themes relevant to the sector. This evaluation came at a pivotal time, with the Energy Strategy 2019–2023 outlining the Bank’s move away from financing coal-related and upstream oil projects, and the commitment made at the Bank’s 2021 Annual Meeting to achieve full Paris alignment by end-2022.
Main findings
Energy efficiency & environmental components added relevance. They were implemented in most of downstream projects but in upstream operations they were secondary to drilling and often delayed or not implemented.
There is no clarity among bankers on institutional positioning of EBRD towards hydrocarbons. New Country Strategies strongly promote renewable energy and diversification away from hydrocarbons.
Additionality was questionable with very large and strong clients – some ranking among the largest corporates in the region.
It was difficult to trace the use Bank’s proceeds in most projects. Cash-generating drilling was prioritised and financed first from the loan proceeds, rather than the TI-related components which, according to the Board reports, were to be funded by the Bank.
Due to questionable additionality (and a controversial sector), most projects had a very complex transition structure, with TI benchmarks ranging from 7 to 32, some of them with vague or absent linkages to the project’s components. Transition results were modest.