The Economist (August 4)
“Earth is smouldering. From Seattle to Siberia this summer, flames have consumed swathes of the northern hemisphere.” And humanity is not rising to the challenge. Three years following the Paris Accord, “greenhouse-gas emissions are up again. So are investments in oil and gas. In 2017, for the first time in four years, demand for coal rose. Subsidies for renewables, such as wind and solar power, are dwindling.” While “it is tempting to think these are temporary setbacks and that mankind, with its instinct for self-preservation, will muddle through to a victory over global warming. In fact, it is losing the war.”
Tags: Coal, Demand, Earth, Emissions, Gas, GHG, Global warming, Humanity, Oil, Paris accord, Renewables, Self-preservation, Setbacks, Smouldering, Solar power, Wind
Reuters (March 27)
Oil prices are holding firm, “supported by concerns that tensions in the Middle East could lead to supply disruptions, although further rises expected in U.S. crude output loomed over markets.”
Tags: Crude, Firm, Middle East, Oil, Output, Prices, Supply disruptions, Tensions, U.S.
Institutional Investor (March 1)
New York City “is aiming for full divestment of coal, oil, and gas from its $189 billion retirement system–but could get sued in the process” if such a move is deemed contrary to fiduciary duty. If they successfully divest the roughly $5 billion in assets linked to fossil fuel, however, “New York’s pension funds would be the first major U.S. retirement system to rid itself of fossil fuels.”
Tags: Coal, Divestment, Fiduciary duty, Fossil fuel, Gas, New York, Oil, Pension fund, Retirement
Newsweek (January 18)
“As 2018 begins, the United States has become the largest producer of gas, oil, and coal in history. Its stock market is at record levels. The economy is growing at a 3 percent rate—and unemployment may dip below 4 percent, even though some commentators have claimed over the last decade that it likely would never fall below 5 percent again. The auto, steel, manufacturing, financial, agricultural, and high-tech industries are ascendant.”
Tags: Coal, Economy, Gas, Manufacturing, Oil, Producer, Stock market, U.S., Unemployment
Nordic Business Insider (November 17)
“Norway’s $1 trillion pension fund wants to ditch all oil and gas stocks.” The irony of the proposed move is that the Government Pension Fund of Norway has become the world’s largest sovereign wealth fund by investing Norway’s oil and gas revenue. The move is not being proposed as a bet against petroleum, but rather to mitigate risk through diversification. “The fund’s exposure to fossil fuel markets is currently double that of a standard global fund.”
Tags: Diversification, Fossil fuel markets, Gas, Norway, Oil, Pension fund, Risk, Sovereign wealth, Stocks
The Economist (December 10)
“For the first time since oil prices plunged in 2014, Big Oil is putting its head above the parapet to seek substantial new sources of crude that will tide it through the 2020s.” While this signals renewed confidence, the players remain extremely cost conscious, with the aim of staying lean to maintain profitability even if oil stays stuck around $50 per barrel.
Tags: Big oil, Confidence, Cost conscious, Crude, Lean, Oil, Plunge, Prices, Profitability
Wall Street Journal (September 26)
“As the oil bust shows little sign of reversing, independent refiners in China have emerged as perhaps the most important, and little-known, force in oil markets today.” Known as “teapots,” these refiners accounted for the vast majority of the 13.5% surge in imports this year by China, which now rivals the U.S. as world’s largest crude importer.”
Institutional Investor (April 23)
“Rate announcements by the Federal Reserve and the Bank of Japan will loom large this coming week as investors consider the alternate reality of negative interest rates. Meanwhile, key economic indicators for onetime BRIC stars Russia and Brazil will arrive as each suffers from the weight of low oil prices and Brazil deals with domestic political intrigue surrounding the impeachment of President Dilma Rousseff.”
Tags: Announcements, BOJ, Brazil, BRICS, Economic indicators, Fed, Impeachment, Negative interest, Oil, Rates, Rousseff, Russia
Financial Times (February 18)
The conditional deal between Saudi Arabia and Russia delivered “maximum rhetorical impact for the minimum genuine commitment.” Ultimately, it “will not take a single barrel of oil off the market to ease the glut that has driven crude prices down about 70 per cent since the summer of 2014.” The deal reveals “nervousness among the world’s two largest oil producers. But the fact that Saudi Arabia is not already cutting its output, in spite of mounting signs of financial strain, shows that while its strategy might be painful, it is still rational.”
Tags: Deal, Financial strain, Glut, Market, Oil, Output, Producers, Rational, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Strategy
The Economist (January 23)
Oil price slumps usually do “the world a power of good. The rule of thumb is that a 10% fall in oil prices boosts growth by 0.1-0.5 percentage points.” This time, however, the abrupt 75% drop in the price of oil is testing the old paradigm. “Producers are suffering grievously. The effects are spilling into financial markets, and could yet depress consumer confidence. Perhaps the benefits of such ultra-cheap oil still outweigh the costs, but markets have fallen so far so fast that even this is no longer clear.”
Tags: Benefits, Consumer confidence, Costs, Growth, Markets, Oil, Price slumps, Producers, Suffering, Ultra cheap
