Oil & Gas

Shell’s U.S. rethink betrays lack of wiggle room

14 Jun 2021

The Anglo-Dutch driller may sell assets worth $10 bln in Texas. Not so long ago the U.S. Permian Basin was a key oil major growth area, but now Shell is under pressure to cut emissions. Restricting carbon while earning a financial return is increasingly determining strategy.

Exxon defeat could lead drillers back to Texas

11 Jun 2021

The $265 bln fossil fuel giant’s board upheaval will prompt other drillers to merge higher returns with greener investments. Buying Texas oil ironically could fit that bill. Deals not only offer companies a way to cut costs. Acquisitions can actually help them look greener, too.

Capital Calls: Biden’s Big Corn battle

11 Jun 2021

Concise views on global finance: The U.S. president is caught between oil refiners and farmers in biofuel mandate.

Big Smoke offers Big Oil tips to avoid dodo status

9 Jun 2021

Fat dividends supported tobacco shares even as regulators focused on health risks. The outperformance of Philip Morris suggests investors like speedy pivots. Better still, hydrocarbon producers’ switch to green energy looks an easier ESG sell than tobacco substitutes.

KKR flips the LBO script with management “buy-in”

8 Jun 2021

Henry Kravis’s firm will list oil and gas firm Independence by merging it with publicly traded Contango. The latter’s shareholders will cede control while the chairman keeps his job, exchanging its highly valued paper for cheap assets. It’s a new twist on a management buyout.

Capital Calls: Turkish gas, Generali, Garuda

4 Jun 2021

Concise views on global finance: President Erdogan’s “good news” on hydrocarbons smells off; the Italian insurer’s 1.5 bln euro bid for NN Group’s asset management unit may trigger a shootout; the Indonesian flag carrier’s long struggle to avoid bankruptcy is coming to a head.

Jay Powell’s oil price bet counts on green inertia

3 Jun 2021

The Fed boss and his peers expect rebounding energy costs will only temporarily lift inflation. But if Western oil majors cut capex to please investors, crude could grow more expensive in coming years. Rate-setters are implicitly banking on a more gradual eco-friendly shift.

BlackRock’s green activism fires on some cylinders

2 Jun 2021

The $9 trln asset manager voted with a hedge fund against Exxon Mobil and for tougher emissions targets at Chevron. That’s progress. Still, its voting record with other oil majors like Royal Dutch Shell suggests it sometimes gives polluters a pat rather than the required shove.

Viewsroom: Big Oil’s global blow

27 May 2021

A small activist fund upended Exxon Mobil’s board while Shell was dealt a setback in a Dutch courtroom. At the same time, Chevron shareholders backed a proposal to cut more emissions. The interests of both stakeholders and shareholders are rapidly aligning in fossil fuels.

Oil giants’ setbacks turn BP from tortoise to hare

27 May 2021

Investors were initially sceptical about the UK major cutting fossil fuels, preferring the fuzzier plans of its U.S. and European rivals. Shell’s legal defeat and an investor revolt at Exxon Mobil change the game. Clarity on cutting emissions will increasingly support valuations.

Activist win at Exxon may change corporate America

26 May 2021

Dissident owners replaced at least two of the oil giant’s 12 directors, a huge feat. CEO Darren Woods and others are now on notice. A radical shift toward green energy is not easy. For Exxon, it may mean broader change, perhaps even an end to its century-old stock-market listing.

Dutch court hands Shell chairman shakeup stick

26 May 2021

A Hague judge has told the oil giant to toughen up its targets for cutting carbon emissions. Besides appealing, Shell could try to dodge the ruling by moving its headquarters. Alternatively, new chair Andrew Mackenzie could shunt the group in the direction of rivals BP and Total.

Exxon’s necessary transition starts with the board

25 May 2021

Investors are being asked to vote on a welter of measures to fix the oil giant. Dissident shareholders and proxy advisory services disagree on what and how much needs to be done. Having more independent board voices with experience in energy firms undergoing big shifts is key.

Capital Calls: BlackRock/Exxon, Media deals, SPACs

25 May 2021

Concise views on global finance: The giant asset manager will vote for three dissident nominees for Exxon Mobil’s board; boutique adviser LionTree has benefited from a rash of media deals; Lordstown Motors show why blank-check merger projections can’t be relied upon.

North Sea oil IPOs had best take the plunge soon

24 May 2021

Ex-Centrica boss Sam Laidlaw is mulling a float that may see his Neptune Energy group valued at $10 bln. Equity markets are skittish and rival driller Wintershall Dea also wants to list. But question marks over gas demand make it riskier for owners CVC, Carlyle and CIC to wait.

Capital Calls: “Friends” reunion, SPACs in D.C.

24 May 2021

Concise views on global finance: AT&T's HBO Max is streaming a delayed 25-year reunion of the popular sitcom cast just as the company ditches its media assets; busybody U.S. Congress is taking a hands-off approach to blank-check firms.

Bursting gas bubble leaves hierarchy of pain

21 May 2021

Until recently, the hydrocarbon seemed a vital bridge from coal to wind and solar. Yet the International Energy Agency now says output must peak by 2025. Gas bulls from European oil majors to producer-states like Qatar all lose out. But some will suffer more than others.

Oil majors get unsettling glimpse of Kodak moment

18 May 2021

The photo group hit the skids after failing to embrace change. In sketching a future with way less oil, a landmark report by the International Energy Agency points to a similar outcome for polluters like Royal Dutch Shell. Investors now have a stronger hand to push for change.

Bitcoin passes the ransom test

14 May 2021

Sure, the crypto-asset isn’t widely accepted. But its appearance as a ransom in Colonial Pipeline's hack shows it shares useful features with the U.S. dollar – such as being easy to exchange. That unconventional sign of success means regulators are going to get even twitchier.

Breakdown: Net zero goals demand zero tolerance

10 May 2021

Only a fifth of the world’s top public companies have promised to eliminate greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. Among those that have, promises are tricky to compare and rely on ambitious offset schemes. Breakingviews helps investors find the substance behind the hot air.