Hydrogen has the power to “reinvent” natural gas, and BP plc is looking to take the lead in the transition, a top executive said earlier this month.

BP’s energy economics team and the International Energy Agency (IEA) are forecasting a big role for hydrogen in the transition from fossil fuels to alternative energies. BP Executive Vice President Dev Sanyal, who oversees Gas & Low Carbon Energy, discussed the energy major’s vision during the virtual Hydrogen Energy Dialogues, which was sponsored by Energy Dialogues LLC in collaboration with the Stanford University’ Natural Gas Initiative.

IEA has estimated hydrogen use could expand to around 210 million metric tons/day (mmty) by the end of this decade from 90 mmty in 2020.

“BP’s own analysis shows that hydrogen...