The future of oil and gas companies?
The future of oil and gas companies?
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Discussion

take-good-care-of-the-forest-dewey

Original Poster:

7,346 posts

78 months

Wednesday 15th September 2021
quotequote all
As per the title really. I noticed a shell car charger at a services at the weekend which got me thinking.

The o&g cos are late to that party and don't have much scope for generation, or infrastructure beyond existing petrol stations.

I work in advanced nuclear and had expected to see some of AMR /SMR design being funded or bought by the big O&G cos as they look to replace O&G revenue... But haven't seen this happen.

They clearly can't rely on O&G for ever so... Those in the business... What's the future of O&G upstream and downstream?

dmahon

2,717 posts

87 months

Wednesday 15th September 2021
quotequote all
I’m sitting on quite a few Shell shares. They were one of the few single stocks I owned before the pandemic and got absolutely smashed. I then bought another tranche when they were low to average down.

I am still fairly comfortable holding. The end of O&G and ESG concerns get a lot of coverage, but surely there are decades if not centuries in the oil game. Right now they are absolutely printing money, especially with gas at all time highs. Politicians are setting big targets, but they’re generally in 2030-2050 so it’s pure can kicking.

irc

9,380 posts

159 months

Wednesday 15th September 2021
quotequote all
As we will be burning oil and gas for decades and using other petroleum based products I don't think they need to worry.

Other than short recession and covid blips world oil consumption has steadily increased over recent decades despite Oaris. COP etc.

Talk is cheap but there is not much sign of any long term reduction in world oil a d gas consumption.

In the case of the UK the reliance on wind bakes in demand for gas as we need a backup for low wind periods.



T

rxe

6,700 posts

126 months

Wednesday 15th September 2021
quotequote all
Hmmm, oil and gas has no real future …. We’re still completely dependent on the stuff for materials, and pretty much everything we touch in our daily lives starts life as a petrolchemical feedstock - and there is nothing at all in the pipeline to displace this.

While we may have to drive round in electric cars, there is again no realistic alternative to diesel and fuel oil for industrial process, power and aviation. Sure, people are making electric aeroplanes, but they are toys that fly a few people for 20 minutes.

As for them investing in nuclear - fission is political poison, they would be insane to go anywhere near it.

take-good-care-of-the-forest-dewey

Original Poster:

7,346 posts

78 months

Wednesday 15th September 2021
quotequote all
I guess I'm thinking more medium / long term. You don't want to be diversifying into another market when profits have gone and you have declining revenue.

I'd have thought they would starting this process now whilst they're still making large profits.

jp1982

300 posts

222 months

Wednesday 15th September 2021
quotequote all
As someone sat in the north sea at the minute, the older assets are being priced out by emissions taxes and high lift costs. New projects are happening but the political will to explore them properly is waning (see the SNP tis week).

The worry is that the rest of the world aren't playing to the same rules as Western Europe so they will continue exploration whilst we hand energy dependency to less stable routes in the hope of signalling how 'green' we are. As some above have said, nearly everything we use has some sort of hydrocarbon base so the rush to close oil fields is a little short sighted until credible alternatives are found.

As for the companies themselves, I know BP are looking to develop a big wind farm off Scotland so I guess that will offset carbon taxes and diversify their portfolio. I believe Shell have similar interests in solar energy, so they won't die, they'll just buy in to other industries that offset their main business.

Randy Winkman

20,974 posts

212 months

Wednesday 15th September 2021
quotequote all
I was told in the climate change politics thread that the reason oil and gas companies don't do anything significant to dispel the "myth" of man-made climate change is because they stand to make even more money from alternative energy supply options. So I assume we will see them get even bigger and richer.

Scrump

23,758 posts

181 months

Wednesday 15th September 2021
quotequote all
take-good-care-of-the-forest-dewey said:
I guess I'm thinking more medium / long term. You don't want to be diversifying into another market when profits have gone and you have declining revenue.

I'd have thought they would starting this process now whilst they're still making large profits.
They started the diversification process some time ago.

GT03ROB

13,989 posts

244 months

Wednesday 15th September 2021
quotequote all
take-good-care-of-the-forest-dewey said:
As per the title really. I noticed a shell car charger at a services at the weekend which got me thinking.

The o&g cos are late to that party and don't have much scope for generation, or infrastructure beyond existing petrol stations.

I work in advanced nuclear and had expected to see some of AMR /SMR design being funded or bought by the big O&G cos as they look to replace O&G revenue... But haven't seen this happen.

They clearly can't rely on O&G for ever so... Those in the business... What's the future of O&G upstream and downstream?
O&G isn’t going anywhere in the foreseeable future. It will evolve for sure, more money will go into carbon capture & sequestration. Shell & BP both have the distribution infrastructure for car charging stations when it become economic. They’ve dabbled in power generation in the past but never stayed in the market long. They will say & do the right things while still doing traditional O&G.

SMR technology is still a bit far away for them at present, get a few facilities licensed/approved/proven to do what it says on the tin, they might buy in

DeltonaS

3,707 posts

161 months

Wednesday 15th September 2021
quotequote all
The future is probably that they'll increasingly invest in green forms of energy. And not just voluntarily:

Shell lost a court case in may, the District Court of The Hague ordered Shell to reduce CO2 emissions by the end of 2030 to net 45% compared to the level of 2019.
https://www.rechtspraak.nl/Organisatie-en-contact/...

The injunction was issued in a lawsuit brought by seven foundations and associations and more than 17,000 individual claimants. According to the claimants, RDS, as the policy-making head of the Shell group, is not doing enough, acting unlawfully and must do more to reduce CO2 emissions. Plaintiffs claimed that CO2 emissions should be reduced by 45% or alternatively 35% or 25% from 2019 levels by 2030. The claims concern the CO2 emissions of the Shell group itself and those of its suppliers and customers.

g3org3y

22,133 posts

214 months

Wednesday 15th September 2021
quotequote all
rxe said:
Hmmm, oil and gas has no real future …. We’re still completely dependent on the stuff for materials, and pretty much everything we touch in our daily lives starts life as a petrolchemical feedstock - and there is nothing at all in the pipeline to displace this.

While we may have to drive round in electric cars, there is again no realistic alternative to diesel and fuel oil for industrial process, power and aviation. Sure, people are making electric aeroplanes, but they are toys that fly a few people for 20 minutes.
This. O&G aren't going anywhere for a while yet.

irc

9,380 posts

159 months

Wednesday 15th September 2021
quotequote all
DeltonaS said:
The future is probably that they'll increasingly invest in green forms of energy. And not just voluntarily:

Shell lost a court case in may, the District Court of The Hague ordered Shell to reduce CO2 emissions by the end of 2030 to net 45% compared to the level of 2019.
https://www.rechtspraak.nl/Organisatie-en-contact/...

The injunction was issued in a lawsuit brought by seven foundations and associations and more than 17,000 individual claimants. According to the claimants, RDS, as the policy-making head of the Shell group, is not doing enough, acting unlawfully and must do more to reduce CO2 emissions. Plaintiffs claimed that CO2 emissions should be reduced by 45% or alternatively 35% or 25% from 2019 levels by 2030. The claims concern the CO2 emissions of the Shell group itself and those of its suppliers and customers.
If you legislate to make a market unprofitable a company can just exit that market. There is a worldwide market for oil.

shirt

25,073 posts

224 months

Wednesday 15th September 2021
quotequote all
all of the above.

the global OG players will still be operating in africa/asia/latam for a long time to come.

in more regulated markets their shift is to diversify and become players in the energy market as a whole. a mix of their usual products plus de-carbonized/renewable fuels, electricity production [renewables but also CCGT power stations], carbon sinks [carbon capture or planting forests to sell carbon credits].

just go to one of the major OG company's energy transition websites and read up, the rest of them are pretty much identical.

DeltonaS

3,707 posts

161 months

Wednesday 15th September 2021
quotequote all
irc said:
DeltonaS said:
The future is probably that they'll increasingly invest in green forms of energy to ofset it's emissions. And not just voluntarily:

Shell lost a court case in may, the District Court of The Hague ordered Shell to reduce CO2 emissions by the end of 2030 to net 45% compared to the level of 2019.
https://www.rechtspraak.nl/Organisatie-en-contact/...

The injunction was issued in a lawsuit brought by seven foundations and associations and more than 17,000 individual claimants. According to the claimants, RDS, as the policy-making head of the Shell group, is not doing enough, acting unlawfully and must do more to reduce CO2 emissions. Plaintiffs claimed that CO2 emissions should be reduced by 45% or alternatively 35% or 25% from 2019 levels by 2030. The claims concern the CO2 emissions of the Shell group itself and those of its suppliers and customers.
If you legislate to make a market unprofitable a company can just exit that market. There is a worldwide market for oil.
Shell as a legal entity is incorporated in the NL's/The Hague.

So in Shell's case the courts decision has world wide consquences, for it's entire operation.

irc

9,380 posts

159 months

Wednesday 15th September 2021
quotequote all
DeltonaS said:
irc said:
DeltonaS said:
The future is probably that they'll increasingly invest in green forms of energy to ofset it's emissions. And not just voluntarily:

Shell lost a court case in may, the District Court of The Hague ordered Shell to reduce CO2 emissions by the end of 2030 to net 45% compared to the level of 2019.
https://www.rechtspraak.nl/Organisatie-en-contact/...

The injunction was issued in a lawsuit brought by seven foundations and associations and more than 17,000 individual claimants. According to the claimants, RDS, as the policy-making head of the Shell group, is not doing enough, acting unlawfully and must do more to reduce CO2 emissions. Plaintiffs claimed that CO2 emissions should be reduced by 45% or alternatively 35% or 25% from 2019 levels by 2030. The claims concern the CO2 emissions of the Shell group itself and those of its suppliers and customers.
If you legislate to make a market unprofitable a company can just exit that market. There is a worldwide market for oil.
Shell as a legal entity is incorporated in the NL's/The Hague.

So in Shell's case the courts decision has world wide consquences, for it's entire operation.
Headquarters can move.

"Royal Dutch Shell RDSa.L is not ruling out moving its headquarters from the Netherlands to Britain, the oil company's chief executive Ben van Beurden said in a Dutch newspaper interview published on Saturday."

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-royal-dutch-she...

take-good-care-of-the-forest-dewey

Original Poster:

7,346 posts

78 months

Wednesday 15th September 2021
quotequote all
Thanks for the replies folks.

Terminator X

19,608 posts

227 months

Wednesday 15th September 2021
quotequote all
I know a few people who work for Shell; they are just pushing into green energy and that will take over as an when O&G declines. The big companies are going nowhere of course.

TX.

DeltonaS

3,707 posts

161 months

Wednesday 15th September 2021
quotequote all
irc said:
DeltonaS said:
irc said:
DeltonaS said:
The future is probably that they'll increasingly invest in green forms of energy to ofset it's emissions. And not just voluntarily:

Shell lost a court case in may, the District Court of The Hague ordered Shell to reduce CO2 emissions by the end of 2030 to net 45% compared to the level of 2019.
https://www.rechtspraak.nl/Organisatie-en-contact/...

The injunction was issued in a lawsuit brought by seven foundations and associations and more than 17,000 individual claimants. According to the claimants, RDS, as the policy-making head of the Shell group, is not doing enough, acting unlawfully and must do more to reduce CO2 emissions. Plaintiffs claimed that CO2 emissions should be reduced by 45% or alternatively 35% or 25% from 2019 levels by 2030. The claims concern the CO2 emissions of the Shell group itself and those of its suppliers and customers.
If you legislate to make a market unprofitable a company can just exit that market. There is a worldwide market for oil.
Shell as a legal entity is incorporated in the NL's/The Hague.

So in Shell's case the courts decision has world wide consquences, for it's entire operation.
Headquarters can move.

"Royal Dutch Shell RDSa.L is not ruling out moving its headquarters from the Netherlands to Britain, the oil company's chief executive Ben van Beurden said in a Dutch newspaper interview published on Saturday."

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-royal-dutch-she...
Britain has courts and NGO's as well.

irc

9,380 posts

159 months

Wednesday 15th September 2021
quotequote all
DeltonaS said:
irc said:
DeltonaS said:
irc said:
DeltonaS said:
The future is probably that they'll increasingly invest in green forms of energy to ofset it's emissions. And not just voluntarily:

Shell lost a court case in may, the District Court of The Hague ordered Shell to reduce CO2 emissions by the end of 2030 to net 45% compared to the level of 2019.
https://www.rechtspraak.nl/Organisatie-en-contact/...

The injunction was issued in a lawsuit brought by seven foundations and associations and more than 17,000 individual claimants. According to the claimants, RDS, as the policy-making head of the Shell group, is not doing enough, acting unlawfully and must do more to reduce CO2 emissions. Plaintiffs claimed that CO2 emissions should be reduced by 45% or alternatively 35% or 25% from 2019 levels by 2030. The claims concern the CO2 emissions of the Shell group itself and those of its suppliers and customers.
If you legislate to make a market unprofitable a company can just exit that market. There is a worldwide market for oil.
Shell as a legal entity is incorporated in the NL's/The Hague.

So in Shell's case the courts decision has world wide consquences, for it's entire operation.
Headquarters can move.

"Royal Dutch Shell RDSa.L is not ruling out moving its headquarters from the Netherlands to Britain, the oil company's chief executive Ben van Beurden said in a Dutch newspaper interview published on Saturday."

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-royal-dutch-she...
Britain has courts and NGO's as well.
Doesn't mean a case would hsve the same outcome.

Hill92

5,233 posts

213 months

Wednesday 15th September 2021
quotequote all
DeltonaS said:
irc said:
DeltonaS said:
irc said:
DeltonaS said:
The future is probably that they'll increasingly invest in green forms of energy to ofset it's emissions. And not just voluntarily:

Shell lost a court case in may, the District Court of The Hague ordered Shell to reduce CO2 emissions by the end of 2030 to net 45% compared to the level of 2019.
https://www.rechtspraak.nl/Organisatie-en-contact/...

The injunction was issued in a lawsuit brought by seven foundations and associations and more than 17,000 individual claimants. According to the claimants, RDS, as the policy-making head of the Shell group, is not doing enough, acting unlawfully and must do more to reduce CO2 emissions. Plaintiffs claimed that CO2 emissions should be reduced by 45% or alternatively 35% or 25% from 2019 levels by 2030. The claims concern the CO2 emissions of the Shell group itself and those of its suppliers and customers.
If you legislate to make a market unprofitable a company can just exit that market. There is a worldwide market for oil.
Shell as a legal entity is incorporated in the NL's/The Hague.

So in Shell's case the courts decision has world wide consquences, for it's entire operation.
Headquarters can move.

"Royal Dutch Shell RDSa.L is not ruling out moving its headquarters from the Netherlands to Britain, the oil company's chief executive Ben van Beurden said in a Dutch newspaper interview published on Saturday."

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-royal-dutch-she...
Britain has courts and NGO's as well.
Even ExxonMobil and Chevron are not immune from investor pressure to reduce carbon emissions.