Oil Stocks Must Win Over Gen Z Investors
Sam Unsted, Bloomberg, April 17, 2019
Generation Z has precious little love for oil and gas stocks, but winning over these younger, climate-conscious investors will be essential for the sector’s future, Barclays Plc analysts say. Only 19 percent of 18-to-24-year-olds are likely to buy shares in oil and gas companies, the lowest level of any age group, according to a survey conducted by Barclays and polling firm YouGov Plc. However, this group is also the most likely to change its mind, creating an opportunity for oil firms if they can provide what this generation wants. Oil stocks have recovered somewhat since the lows hit in 2016 when crude prices plunged, forcing companies to fundamentally alter the way they operate by slashing costs. But current enterprise value-to-earnings multiples are still well below where they were in the past as the sector struggles for stock gains despite oil prices recovering and cash flows booming. “Engaging this group, essentially Generation Z, may be the key to halting and potentially reversing the de-rating of the energy sector that has occurred over the past decade,” Barclays analysts led by Lydia Rainforth said. Gen Z investors want two things, the survey found. More investment in renewable energy and a reduction of oil companies’ carbon footprints, for sure, but they also want attractive returns.
Record U.S. Oil And Natural Gas, Falling Methane Emissions
Jude Clemente, Forbes, March 7, 2019
Breakthroughs in finding and stopping methane leaks are a constant search for the U.S. oil and natural gas industry. In fact, this was a central topic at the triennial World Gas Conference (WGC) held last summer, for the first time in Washington DC. For our booming shale business, more methane capture and fewer emissions are core goals. This makes perfect sense of course. Natural gas, for instance, is itself composed of 95% methane (CH4). Thus, methane is a product to be sold, and the industry always seeks to “not let it leak out.” In short, there is a natural financial incentive to capture as much methane as possible. This maximizing of efficiency is obviously good for business. Just as importantly, the industry knows that natural gas is the clear winner in the global objective to reduce greenhouse gas emissions while still supplying reliable and affordable energy. Gas emits 50% less CO2 than coal and 30% less than oil, but it is also the essential backup for intermittent renewables: “Natural Gas Is The Flexibility Needed For More Wind And Solar.” Gas companies realize that getting a firm grip on methane leaks really puts them in the driver’s seat as we race toward our future energy world. Increasingly, natural gas is being confirmed as a “destination fuel,” no longer just a “bridge fuel.”
Why Gas Is the Ultimate Future Fuel: Saudi Aramco
Natural Gas News, April 18, 2019
Saudi Arabia was built by oil, but natural gas is shaping its future. In fact, that trend applies to most countries’ economic growth plans. One of the cleanest, most cost-effective fuels for power generation, industry, transportation, and numerous other sectors worldwide, gas is the ultimate future fuel.
Saudi Aramco, the world’s leading integrated energy and chemicals company, is making natural gas a strategic focus. Here’s why we see gas as the roadmap to a more prosperous, sustainable future – and how innovation is helping us tap its tremendous economic and environmental potential.
