US gases company Air Products is reviewing its role in two hydrogen megaprojects amid plans to halve capital expenditure to $2.5 billion by 2030.

In 2025, the group estimates capex will come in at $5 billion, Kallanish learns. Projects worth $5 billion have already been cancelled, and management will cut jobs to reduce the workforce from 23,000 currently to 18,500 in 2028.

Following a shareholder revolt that led to the ousting of ceo Seifi Ghasemi, Air Products is now U-turning on its gasification and clean energy pivot to focus on “good quality core industrial gases non-consolidated joint ventures.” The bet is now on “high-return, low-risk on-site business with take-or-pay contracts” rather than “higher-risk, first-of-a-kind technology projects without committed offtake.” 

New ceo Eduardo Menezes, who was appointed in February, said in an earnings call on Thursday that he remains “cautiously optimistic” about the $4.5 billion blue hydrogen complex in Louisiana and the $8 billion green hydrogen project in Saudi Arabia. However, Air Products is now looking at divesting the carbon sequestration and the ammonia production elements in Louisiana, to focus solely on industrial gases. 

In Saudi Arabia, the group will now prioritise completing facilities to produce green ammonia “until hydrogen regulation is fully developed,” says Menezes. “We will delay investment in downstream facilities in Europe until specific regulatory frameworks are clear for each country and we have firm customer commitments,” he adds.

The group still has around $2 billion of capital expenditure to be invested between 2026 and 2028 in what it calls “underperforming projects.” These include a green hydrogen project in Arizona, US and blue hydrogen projects in Canada and the Netherlands. The plan is to move forward with them due to “commercial obligations and project status,” although Air Products will not materially contribute to operations.

In Q1, sales remained flat at $2.9 billion, while the company swung to a $1.7 billion net loss from a $572 million profit last year due to charges related to project cancellations.