Less crude, more hydrogen: Oil giants plan for the future

Indian Oil Corp., one of the biggest refiners in Asia, is taking the bus to reach what it considers the future of energy: hydrogen.

The company that sells almost half the oil products in India will deploy 50 buses around the capital powered by a blend of hydrogen and compressed natural gas, Chairman Shrikant Madhav Vaidya said. The fleet will serve the public and could start rolling as soon as this year, potentially creating a new market for a producer trying to rebound from its first annual loss in at least 20 years.

Hydrogen, long touted as the fuel of the future, had a bit of a coming-out party at this week’s S&P Global Platts Asia Pacific Petroleum Conference, as some of the world’s biggest refiners, drillers and traders extolled it as key to fighting climate change.