Fueling the Future: Alberta’s Natural Gas Advantage and Global Petrochemical Shifts

Key Findings

General Thoughts: We discuss recent weakness in Alberta natural gas prices relative to Henry Hub levels, flagging pipeline expansions in the area that we think will benefit the build-out of the Alberta chemical industry over time.
Supply Chain/Commodities: We highlight our takeaways from Shell’s capital markets event today as it looks for strategic partnerships in the US, plant closures and product upgrading in Europe, and growth from China projects.
Energy/Upstream: We highlight our takeaways from Shell’s capital markets event today as it looks for strategic partnerships in the US, plant closures and product upgrading in Europe, and growth from China projects.
Sustainability/Energy Transition: We further discuss the difficulties facing many plastic recyclers, highlighting the movements in HDPE bale prices amid falling US exports to some regions and the recent uptick in PP bale prices.
Downstream/Other Chemicals: We focus on optimistic economic data in Europe, ranging from the latest upturn in an ifo business sentiment survey and the recent rebound in manufacturing activity, but approach it cautiously.