Tordo, Silvana

Person:
Tordo, Silvana

Energy and Extractives Global Practice

Fields of Specialization

Petroleum sector, Sovereign wealth funds, Strategic investment funds, Climate change adaptation finance

ORCID

0000-0002-7916-7879

Departments

Energy and Extractives Global Practice

Last updated: February 13, 2024

Biography

Silvana Tordo, lead energy economist in the World Bank’s Energy and Extractives Global Practice, specializes in the institutional, legal, contractual, and fiscal frameworks of the petroleum sector; national oil companies; and oil and gas value chains, as well as auctions, local content policies, sovereign wealth funds, strategic investment funds, and climate finance. For the World Bank she leads the Extractives-led Local Economic Development program, an industrial policy program that promotes sustainable local value creation in mining and hydrocarbons regions. Her publications cover a wide range of topics, including value creation by national oil companies, allocation of petroleum rights, oil and gas taxation, strategic investment funds, industrial policy, and climate-smart policies. Tordo has an MBA and is a doctor in business economics from Bocconi University, Milan, Italy.

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Publication Search Results

Now showing 1 - 10 of 21

Water Management in Oil and Gas Operations: Industry Practice and Policy Guidelines for Developing Countries
(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-02-13) Bandlien, Einar H.; De Kruijf, Sander; Vik, Eilen Arctander; Ekern, Ole Fredrik; Siqueland Knudsen, Johan Bernhard; Dyce, Geoffrey; Tordo, Silvana; Bertone, François
Steadily increasing demand for water poses a threat to sustainable development, and an increasing number of regions are chronically short of water. Putting caps on water consumption, increasing water use efficiencies, and supporting improved sharing of water resources are now critical to reducing the perils posed by water scarcity to biodiversity and human welfare. Although freshwater demand in oil and gas operations is a small fraction of global water demand, oil and gas fields are commonly clustered in smaller areas, where their operations often dominate freshwater abstraction and wastewater discharge. At the same time, oil production generates large amounts of produced water that may be used to reduce freshwater abstraction and possibly serve beneficial purposes outside the petroleum sector. In the most advanced countries, regulation promotes the sound use of freshwater in the oil and gas industry and incentivizes the reuse or beneficial use of treated produced water. Regulation is also used to prevent the contamination of freshwater resources from the disposal of unproperly treated produced water. In many developing and emerging economies, however, regulation to prevent water contamination is often lacking or nonexistent or, when present, is poorly enforced. Optimal policy and regulation of the use of freshwater and the reuse of water generated by oil and gas operations depend on a range of geographic, geological, technical, and economic factors. This book identifies common policy principles organized around key regulatory functions and critical links of the oil and gas value chain. This report offers practical solutions to guide policy makers and regulators seeking to minimize the environmental impacts of oil and gas operations, to promote sustainable cross-sectoral economic linkages, and to reduce competition and potential conflicts over access to and use of water resources.
Financing Solutions to Reduce Natural Gas Flaring and Methane Emissions
(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2022-03-18) Lorenzato, Gianni; Tordo, Silvana; van den Berg, Berend; Howells, Huw Martyn; Sarmiento-Saher, Sebastian
Global oil and gas emissions fell to historic lows in 2020 as a result of the decline in global demand associated with the COVID-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic. Data released by the International Energy Agency suggest that CO2 emissions are on the rise as energy demands increase after the pandemic. Whether emissions will rebound to precrisis levels largely depends on governments’ emphasis on clean energy transition in their efforts to reboot economic growth. In 2019, direct and indirect emissions from the oil and gas sector represented about 15 percent of the global energy sector’s greenhouse gas emissions. More than half of these emissions came from flaring and methane released during oil and gas operations. This book aims to create awareness of the business case for reducing gas flaring and methane emissions. It provides a framework for policy makers to evaluate the feasibility and financial attractiveness of flaring and methane reduction (FMR) projects, analyzes investment barriers, and identifies key variables and success factors, backed by lessons learned from case studies. Simplified financial modeling templates are suggested to help policy makers to assess FMR options. The book focuses on midsized flares that collectively represent 58 percent of the global flare volumes. These flares are typically too small to be prioritized by oil companies but still allow for profitable monetization. Smaller FMR projects are unlikely to be economically viable, unless clustered in larger projects or propelled by an enabling and compulsory regulatory framework. Large-scale capture projects require tailored projects, large ancillary infrastructure, government planning, and capital injections costing hundreds of millions of dollars. Although potentially attractive in terms of equity returns to developers, midsized flares face various barriers to the financing and execution of FMR solutions. Navigating these barriers requires project developers with specific FMR expertise, as highlighted through six detailed case studies discussed in this book.
Methodology and Value Chain Analysis
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2019-04-29) Sekar, Sri; Lundin, Kyle; Tucker, Christopher; Figueiredo, Joe; Tordo, Silvana; Aguilar, Javier
The mining industry, which provides input to almost every product and service in the world, is a critical element toward sustainable growth in mineral-rich countries and the economy at large. This report is intended to deliver an account of mining technologies, processes, and strategies that seek to incorporate environmental sustainability considerations and have the potential for local value creation and green growth. The analysis focuses on three areas--renewable energy, water management, and automation and transportation--that are considered to have the broadest impact on environmental sustainability and in-country value creation through economic linkages. A reference case study is presented for each of the four benchmark minerals: gold mining in Burkina Faso, iron ore in Australia, copper in Peru, and cement in India. The report is part of a series of background reports that inform the research on Building Resilience: A Green Growth Framework for Mobilizing Mining Investment.
Designing Oil Revenue Management Mechanisms: An Application to Chad
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2020-09) Campagne, Benoit; Kitzmuller, Markus; Tordo, Silvana
Oil resources usually play a significant role in oil-rich countries, in gross domestic product and government revenues. High dependence of government revenues on oil can contribute to severe recession following an adverse commodity price shock, such as in 2014. This paper examines the extent to which a fiscal rule or stabilization fund could translate into a less pro-cyclical fiscal policy, with the government saving part of its oil revenues during periods of high prices and drawing down on the savings during difficult periods. Using the macro-structural model MFMod, the paper presents, evaluates, and discusses the strengths and weaknesses of different oil revenue management mechanisms applied to the specific case of Chad. The scenarios demonstrate that a well-designed management rule can successfully insulate the public budget from the oil price cycle, resulting in a significant reduction in the volatility of the economy.
Policy Approaches to Climate Change in Mineral Rich Countries
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2019-04-29) Sekar, Sri; Lundin, Kyle; Tucker, Christopher; Figueiredo, Joe; Tordo, Silvana; Aguilar, Javier
The green economy entails an approach by nations to adopt economic policies designed to develop climate-sensitive industrial sectors that can drive long-run sustainable economic growth. Any meaningful transition to a new green economy will require the mining sector as a central stakeholder. This is in part due to the significance of the minerals sector to the overall global economy. Minerals make up and will continue to make up the fundamental building blocks of the global economy. This report provides an overview of the policies of countries leading the shift toward a green economy, and the implications of those policies for the mining sector in those countries.
Building Resilience: A Green Growth Framework for Mobilizing Mining Investment
(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2019-04-29) Sekar, Sri; Lundin, Kyle; Tucker, Christopher; Figueiredo, Joe; Tordo, Silvana; Aguilar, Javier
A sustainable path to development has profound consequences for all economic activities and related policies. The mining industry, which provides input to almost every product and service in the world, is highly relevant to the goal of achieving sustainable development in mineral-rich countries and in the global economy. In addition, environmental sustainability is a critical concern for mining companies, whose growth is increasingly affected by climate change. Given the centrality of minerals and metals to our way of living, Building Resilience: A Green Growth Framework for Mobilizing Mining Investment investigates the extent to which the mining industry can contribute to green growth. Despite what ought to be a tight nexus of public and private interest in targeted green sector investment, this report finds that there is a misalignment between mining companies’ investment in climate-sensitive production processes, and policy makers’ efforts to develop a cohesive green economy framework for industry to navigate. The private and public sectors regard the climate agenda and the development of local economic opportunity as separate matters. Neither industry nor government have yet to effectively leverage their climate imperatives and mandates to seize green growth opportunities. To address this misalignment, this report proposes a framework to help mining companies and governments integrate climate change and local economic opportunity activities. Going further, the report offers examples of projects and policies that support green growth: particularly climate-related activities that create scalable economic value and invest in long-lasting green infrastructure.
Climate-Sensitive Mining: Case Studies
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2019-04-29) Sekar, Sri; Lundin, Kyle; Tucker, Christopher; Figueiredo, Joe; Tordo, Silvana; Aguilar, Javier
The mining industry, which provides input to almost every product and service in the world, is a critical component of sustainable growth in mineral-rich countries and the economy at large. This report is intended to deliver an account of mining technologies, processes, and strategies that seek to incorporate environmental sustainability considerations and have the potential for local value creation and green growth. The analysis focuses on three areas--renewable energy, water management, and automation and transportation--that are considered to have the broadest impact on environmental sustainability and in-country value creation through economic linkages. A reference case study is presented for each of the four benchmark minerals: gold mining in Burkina Faso, iron ore in Australia, copper in Peru, and cement in India. The report is part of a series of background reports that inform the research on Building Resilience: A Green Growth Framework for Mobilizing Mining Investment.
Mining Firms' Climate-Sensitive Initiatives
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2019-04-29) Sekar, Sri; Lundin, Kyle; Tucker, Christopher; Figueiredo, Joe; Tordo, Silvana; Aguilar, Javier
The need for mining firms to rethink and retool their local value creation efforts, along with the growing complexity of climate policies, presents an opportunity for forward-thinking mining fi rms to seize a competitive advantage. As this report argues, firms that systematically tackle their climate responsibilities and adapt to climate realities through technical solutions that offer scalable economic value to host nations are best placed to contribute to sustainable growth in their countries of operation.
Options for Increased Private Sector Participation in Resilience Investment: Focus on Agriculture
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2017-12) Lorenzato, Gianni; Tordo, Silvana; Zhao, Jing; McEneaney, Kyle; Sarmiento-Saher, Sebastian Phillip
The presence of a revenue stream and a commercial return are an absolute prerequisite for investment for the private sector. However, often adaptation benefits or the value added (resilience) of adaptation investment are difficult to quantify in financial terms. There is no accepted methodology to price the adaptation feature of an investment, that is to quantify whenan investment has successfully adapted to climate change. While the risks from extreme weatherand climate change are clearly recognizable, and many investors see these risks in the present ornear term, uncertainty about the precise nature, timing and severity of climate impacts makes the return on investment of adaptation projects difficult to measure. In many cases adaptation is embedded into project design and engineering. The fact that the adaptation component is often not able to be separated, or treated as an add-on feature, has consequences for fund raising and project financing. Particularly for infrastructure projects, the difficulty in ring-fencing adaptation components, and the uncertainty around the time and magnitude of climate impacts, make it difficult to charge separate/properly priced tariffs. These difficulties are compounded in emerging and developing economies (EMDEs), where users’ ability to pay is limited. Blended finance solutions are used to make projects bankable by closing viability gaps. Blended finance consists in the complementary use of concessional (grants or low interest instruments) and non-concessional financing from public and private sources to make projects financially viable and/or financially sustainable. Applying this approach to climate finance allows leveraging of limited public funding, enhances the overall effectiveness of aid, and potentially triggers an increase in private investment once the long-term viability of a market is demonstrated. This report analyzes the potential and need for blended finance solutions in four economic sectors - water, agriculture, transport, and energy. For each economic sector, two broad classes of investment, infrastructure and value chains, are discussed. Investing in infrastructure or in value chains (that is, the range of goods and services that link the producer to the customers or end-consumer) requires different competencies, investment processes, project selection criteria, and attracts different classes of investors. Each investment theme is assessed for its resilience relevance and potential for commercial returns. An in-depth analysis of financing needs and potential blended finance solutions for resilience investment in the agriculture sector is presented, because of the economic relevance of agriculture in EMDEs, and its exposure to climate and natural hazards.
Strategic Investment Funds: Opportunities and Challenges
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2016-10) Halland, Havard; Kloper-Owens, Jacob J.; Tordo, Silvana; Noel, Michel
Over the past 15 years, the number of government-sponsored strategic investment funds has grown rapidly in countries at all income levels. This paper identifies some of the challenges that these funds face in their endeavor to achieve economic policy objectives while also securing commercial financial returns—the so-called double bottom line. Through the review of the objectives, investment strategies, and operations of a sample of strategic investment funds, this paper outlines ways in which these challenges have been addressed. The paper suggests that properly structured and managed strategic investment funds can be effective vehicles for crowding in private investors to priority investments, thus magnifying the impact of public capital. However, their success rests on the funds' ability to balance policy and commercial objectives, source investment opportunities, and secure the right fund management capacity.