Daily Chemical Reaction
Building Blocks: Shell Provides A Bad Public Data Point for New Project Developers Needing Cash
Key Points:
- The production problems at the Shell Monaca site push this project even deeper into the red. If Shell cannot get it right the odds are low for new energy inexperienced independents.
- High returns will continue to drive LNG investments globally, but how the future of a more liquid trading market evolves will depend on supply vs demand – just like crude oil.
- We continue to see signals of demand weakness in chemical company earnings, and other indicators suggest we have not yet seen a full inventory correction – 2Q headwinds are high.
- We discuss declining confidence in ESG investing in the US – likely not all because of the “anti-woke” movement, but because of poor performance, especially versus energy in 2022.
- Sticky inflation data (and US jobs data) suggest that interest rates must stay high even if they do not rise further. The risk of recession is rising, but can it be managed to be only mild?
See PDF below for all charts, tables and diagrams