Energy

Aussie tycoon will blaze new green activist trail

2 Jan 2024

Atlassian co-CEO Mike Cannon-Brookes has already used some of his billions to tackle climate change, like battling the country’s top carbon emitter. Quitting the software firm would make him more effective. Other wealthy moguls may then join him in the activist trenches.

Capital Calls: Eni’s green sale

22 Dec 2023

Concise views on global finance: The Italian energy major’s 10 bln euro valuation for its retail-and-renewables arm Plenitude is more likely to be recreated or exceeded if it avoids a rushed listing.

Capital Calls: Angola and OPEC

21 Dec 2023

Concise views on global finance: The African state’s decision to quit the oil producer group isn’t a huge deal in the short term, but will raise fears of more meaningful exits.

Green investors will learn the art of stockpicking

21 Dec 2023

Wind and solar stocks had a torrid 2023, as stars like Orsted crashed. But renewables investment is strong, input cost inflation is abating and rates may have peaked. Investors able to pick developers in the right sector, or suppliers in the right regions, may find bargains.

BP and Equinor will find common ground

20 Dec 2023

The British oil major is undervalued against peers and is in a leadership vacuum. That makes it vulnerable to a takeover as US mega-mergers shake up the sector. Daring to tie up with Norwegian ally Equinor offers a powerful hedge and a springboard.

Biofuels comeback will give West a rare energy win

20 Dec 2023

Propellants from plant waste and animal fats have lost out amid an e-mobility push. Yet the difficulty of using electricity for planes and ships, and the rise of non-edible crops as feedstock, will offset food supply fears. Western groups like BP, Total and Eni will benefit.

Santa puts coal stocks in stockings for last time

19 Dec 2023

Producers of the dirty fuel, like Peabody and Arch Resources, have generated excellent returns over the past two years, a trend that may continue in the near term. But government policies are rapidly eroding demand. Fewer investors will want the shares in Christmases future.

COP28 deal just about keeps net zero on the road

13 Dec 2023

Nations at the climate shindig agreed to start transitioning away from fossil fuels. The wording could have been tougher and clearer, and the world still faces harmful warming. But the Dubai meeting could have yielded a damaging standstill, rather than a baby step forward.

Global energy fissures are a risk for the West

12 Dec 2023

Falling oil prices despite recent cuts imply a weak OPEC+. Yet the producer group may increasingly align with other emerging market states on areas like Russia and climate change. In this Exchange podcast commodities expert Helima Croft says that’s an issue for Europe and the US.

Woodside-Santos energy merger hurdles look high

8 Dec 2023

The Aussie duo are discussing a $52 bln deal. Both are industry laggards, paying a big premium would be hard to justify and regulators may object even though Big Oil is consolidating in the US. That could hand foreign rivals like ConocoPhillips and BP a dealmaking advantage.

 

Energy transition investing is caught in traps

8 Dec 2023

COP28 attendees pledged to triple renewables, but there’s still no plan to quit fossil fuel. Brookfield’s $13 bln joint bid for Aussie emitter Origin lined up a poster child deal for how companies can make the leap. Its failure has lessons for the world’s broader efforts.

Capital Calls: KKR’s green bargain

7 Dec 2023

Concise views on global finance: The buyout group is offering 1.4 bln pounds for battery and smart metering company SMS. It’s a cheap price. Yet the high rates that have pummelled the stock may soon ease.

COP28 wrestles with the nuances of binning oil

7 Dec 2023

The global climate conference in Dubai has seen its fossil fuel-rich UAE host criticised for appearing to contest the need to phase out crude. In this Viewsroom podcast, Breakingviews columnists discuss how the picture is a bit more complex.

Capital Calls: Roche, Brookfield/Origin

4 Dec 2023

Concise views on global finance: The $224 bln Swiss drugmaker is splurging $2.7 bln on obesity drug developer Carmot; the Canadian investment firm’s joint $13 bln bid for Origin Energy has failed. The trick now is to show what lessons it’s learned from its 16-month-plus campaign.

ADNOC German oil deal has bad timing, good logic

28 Nov 2023

Abu Dhabi’s energy giant may bid for BASF-owned Wintershall, in a deal worth $11 bln. As the UAE prepares to host the COP28 climate shindig, that’s a bad look. But buying the German group’s pipeline network may suit ADNOC’s wider aim to bulk up in European petrochemicals.

COP28’s big dilemma: fossil fuel cuts, or fudges

28 Nov 2023

The success of the Dubai climate shindig rests on how much it slashes emissions via cuts to oil production, and how much it relies on carbon storage or removal. In this Exchange podcast, Energy Transitions Commission chair Adair Turner warns against relying on the latter.

Every country needs an Inflation Reduction Act

23 Nov 2023

The US's $370 bln in green subsidies left allies fearing they’d be at a disadvantage. Now they’re realising that adapting the blueprint can unlock private capital, boost economies and speed up the energy transition. Funding remains a challenge, but not an insurmountable one.

Britain solves half of its wind power problem

16 Nov 2023

After a humiliating failed auction, the UK is hiking green energy subsidies. That will draw bidders, and the resulting power should still be cheaper than gas. But to hit a target of 50 GW of offshore wind by 2030, PM Rishi Sunak will need to allot more cash in new bidding rounds.

Siemens Energy solves just one of its many issues

15 Nov 2023

CEO Christian Bruch got 12 bln euros of financial guarantees, including from the German state, which fixes the turbine maker’s urgent problem. But he now faces dividend and bonus restrictions. And reviving the struggling wind-power unit will involve racking up yet more losses.

COP28’s big challenge: green cash for poor states

15 Nov 2023

To hit net zero, rich countries need to find an extra $1 trln a year of public and private cash for the developing world. As delegates head to Dubai for 2023’s key climate shindig, the UAE could bolster its credibility as host by focusing attention and resources on a fix.