ESG, Recycling, & Climate | Weekly Thematic

Oil Companies – Buybacks/Chemicals Worth More Than CCS?
February 2, 2023
Products Mentioned:
Hydrogen, Lithium, Oil and Gas, PET, Wind, Solar, Hydropower, Nuclear, Biofuels, Biogas, Batteries, CO2
Companies Mentioned:
bp, Shell, ExxonMobil, Chevron, Occidental, Eni, OMV, TotalEnergies, CNOOC, Aramco, Sinopec, Sasol, Pioneer, Diamondback, Endeavor, EOG, Eastman, Origin Materials, NextEra, Imperial Oil, Dow, LyondellBasell, Hengli, Albemarle, Form Energy, GM, Tesla, Johnson Matthey, Plug Power, Issaquena Green Power
Subjects Covered:
Recycling, Renewables, Carbon Capture, Emissions, New Energy, The Hydrogen Economy, ESG Investing, Climate Litigation, Clean Fuels

C-MACC Weekly “CRETER” (Climate etc.)

Oil Companies – Buybacks/Chemicals Worth More Than CCS?

  • As the oil companies print cash and post record annual earnings, not enough is being spent on energy transition: shareholders like this – activists hate it.
  • Decarbonization projects with incentives have low returns; buybacks look more attractive on a risk-adjusted basis – so does M&A, in oil and gas and chemicals.
  • The likely demise of lithium – hurt by its own high price and forecasts that prices will be high long-term – cheap batteries appear, and more investment arrives.
  • We question the economics of Eastman’s PET molecular recycling plans and doubt that buyers will pay up – we are watching Origin’s start-up with interest.
  • Otherwise, we look at bp’s self-serving review of world energy but agree with a natural gas conclusion, more irrational exuberance for wind/solar, and jobs.

See PDF below for all charts, tables and diagrams


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