Open Research
Free Access Reports
Below we share publications that are open to download and read, free of charge.
Investors Views on ESG – Do UK Pension Funds Attacking Oil Majors Risk Litigation Themselves?
Do the UK pension funds attacking Shell and bp risk giving life to an anti-woke/anti-ESG movement in Europe? When bp announced its change in strategy and its plan to increase spending on traditional oil and gas, its stock rose over 8%. As we have noted in extensive prior research, the multiple of earnings being given to European integrated oil companies appears to be inversely correlated with the degree of portfolio transformation promised. Investors are not nearly as interested in transformation stories as they are the cash flows from oil and gas – or so it would appear.
The Checkbooks Being Targeted Are Not Big Enough
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You Sexy Thing – Issaquena Green Power Works To Untap The Potential Of Issaquena County, MS
Issaquena Green Power Co-CEO and C-MACC Partner Graham Copley will attend the Hydrogen Summit in DC, promoting our MS hydropower & green fertilizer project.
NW Europe natural gas prices have fallen from recent highs but remain significantly above US levels, helping to support global chemical prices and favor US production.
We highlight US ammonia margins relative to Europe and the benefits of ammonia-integrated urea and fertilizer production relative to riskier non-integrated production.
We discuss the global hydrogen market and views of the hydrogen cost curve by region in 2050. We also flag rising investments in hydrogen and derivative production assets.
We discuss recent Baltic Exchange Dry Index movements and WoW shifts in North American rail traffic. US Dollar strength also continues, moving in favor of imports.
Energy Prices Brief
“There is inadequate capacity to meet energy demand with U.S. oil and gas E&P spending falling. U.S. energy policy should be encouraging production for the benefit of the U.S.”
Unintended – European Support For Natural Gas Could Lift Short-to-Medium Term Demand Much More Than Supply
Broad acceptance of natural gas as a critical transition fuel must come with incentives to encourage production, or markets will tighten – prices will increase.
Some production and all export investments require long-term offtake agreements, but buyer demand considerations expectations may be shorter-term.
One likely consequence is that the LNG market sees lower investment from independents and more direct activity from the methane owners in the future.
Separately, we discuss the evolution of China’s chemical and refining industry, using South Korea in the 90s as a possible proxy.
Otherwise, we look at US ethylene and propylene prices, broader inflation, and its impact on chemical earnings, reshoring, and plastic waste-to-hydrogen plans.
Surface Pressure – Commodity Chemical Supply Availability Indicators Rise, Uncertainties Remain
US spot ethylene values have increased more than 20% since the start of 2022. We generally discuss the setup of this market in 1Q22 and highlight several indicators suggesting commodity production improvements ahead.
We highlight pertinent energy, chemical, and other corporate updates (e.g., Invista, Ineos, Larson & Toubro, Reliance, Röhm, Williams, & others).
We note relevant ESG items, ranging from global carbon price trends to our research titled, The Evolution Of the Plastic Industry Could Stall in 2022.
We discuss numerous other pertinent chemical sector items in this report.