Oil & Gas

Corona Capital: Utah Jazz, Comcast, Kraft

29 October 2020

Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: Utah Jazz’s owners sign off with a respectable return; Comcast shoots the light out on broadband; and Kraft rides the stay-at-home wave.

BP’s investment case falls between two stools

27 October 2020

The $54 bln oil major’s shares have sunk further than peers in recent months. Boss Bernard Looney won’t mind if his renewable energy shift leads oil bulls to prefer Exxon Mobil. He might get more bothered if investors find rival Total’s green transition more compelling.

Nigeria unrest throws petrol on economic bonfire

23 October 2020

The army is offering to deploy to quell protests against police brutality. That would fan tensions, the last thing the country needs. Africa’s biggest economy is on the ropes due to Covid-19 and low oil prices. Trouble in the oil-producing Niger Delta would bring it to its knees.

Shale M&A conflicts aren’t just all in the family

20 October 2020

A deal between two Texas drillers – involving a father and son – may be in the works. It looks like a bailout of sorts, so convincing outsiders of a fair deal will be hard. Other conflicts in shale M&A, like executive pay, loom large. Texas may be big, but the oil club is small.

Texas shale deal starts a sprint to nowhere

19 October 2020

ConocoPhillips is scooping up Concho for $10 bln after the oil price rout cut its stock nearly in half. Cost cuts are in theory worth three times the premium. But drillers consistently burn cash. Consolidation helps, but oil’s dimming future means they are racing against time.

Aramco pipeline spinoff plan is born of necessity

14 October 2020

The $1.9 trln oil giant is echoing Abu Dhabi-based peer ADNOC by discussing a part-sale of its distribution network with BlackRock and others. Aramco’s foreign investors’ dividend is safe. But financing state payouts and other activities requires the $10 bln it could raise.

Corona Capital: Oil, Delta, Hunger

13 October 2020

Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: OPEC and the International Energy Agency issue forecasts that bode ill for crude demand; the U.S. airline steers through turbulence; and a food crisis is exacerbating problems facing the most vulnerable in society.

Fantasy M&A’s latest contender: Buffett buys Exxon

8 October 2020

The Sage of Omaha has $120 bln to deploy on a big deal. After halving in value this year Exxon Mobil is worth only a bit more. If Buffett was interested, the oil titan might value relative anonymity in the Berkshire Hathaway empire to increasing heat from ESG-minded investors.

Big Oil’s green rush needn’t inflate a big bubble

6 October 2020

Total has joined BP in promising more investment in renewable energy. The risk is that deep-pocketed interlopers push up prices of wind farms and solar parks, eroding returns. Luckily for transitioning oil majors, the scale of new capacity needed to replace fossil fuels is vast.

North Sea drillers find mutually acceptable Plan B

6 October 2020

Private equity-owned Chrysaor and listed Premier Oil are uniting in a $7 bln merger. Ideally, the former would have gone public via an IPO, not a reverse takeover, and the latter’s creditors would have avoided a haircut. But the oil price rout left both with second-best choices.

Utility mega-deal may create wrong kind of sparks

30 September 2020

NextEra’s tilt at rival Duke could create a $200 bln giant, spanning clean-energy generation and lighting homes across the American south. NextEra’s juiced-up shares give it a currency. But the need to please watchdogs suggests a deal has to be harmonious, and probably expensive.

Corona Capital: NYC

30 September 2020

Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: New York City’s economic reboot comes up against a new outbreak.

Corona Capital: Shale merger, Logistics startup

28 September 2020

Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: Two Permian Basin oil drillers agree to merge to share their coronavirus demand-shock woes; and delivery upstart ShipBob gets some SoftBank cash to help it compete with Amazon.

Review: Oil historian of record drops his compass

18 September 2020

Three decades after his celebrated history of the hydrocarbon industry, “The Prize”, Daniel Yergin has published “The New Map”. His account of recent energy geopolitics is typically authoritative. A discussion of the ongoing energy transition, however, lacks clear signposts.

BP limbers up for green transition high-wire act

14 September 2020

The UK group is the first oil major to pivot to wind and solar in a big way. To fund the shift, CEO Bernard Looney has cut the dividend and assumes higher oil prices. Even then, investors face years of relatively spartan payouts, and uncertain returns from green investments.

Big Oil’s green turn is justified by the numbers

7 September 2020

BP’s call to hike spending on renewables risks a repeat of past goofs. But hard data implies oil majors have been the ones eroding shareholder value in recent years. By comparison, the falling expense of wind and solar power and their lower cost of capital make them a safer bet.

Review: MbS, Saudi Arabia’s sharpest prince

4 September 2020

From the Ritz rumble to unleashing a sovereign fund, "Blood and Oil" brings together the antics of the kingdom’s crown prince in a gripping page-turner. Mohammed bin Salman’s rise through grisly palace politics to unprecedented power elicits horror and, sometimes, admiration.

Apollo and Abu Dhabi scratch each other’s backs

2 September 2020

A consortium led by the private equity titan has struck a $2.7 billion deal for a 49% stake in a real estate company held by the emirate’s energy group ADNOC. Apollo-linked insurers snap up long-term secure assets. Abu Dhabi gets a cash injection from selling the family silver.

India Insight: Ambani, a maverick Rockefeller

25 August 2020

Data is the new oil for the tycoon who wants his $185 bln Reliance to serve all the needs of Indian consumers. He’s backed by America’s tech monopolists. Just as the Standard Oil energy cartel birthed U.S. antitrust law, Mukesh Ambani will amass power until told to stop.

BHP selfishly brushes up green credentials

18 August 2020

Surging iron ore sales cushioned declines in other commodities as annual earnings fell 4% to $9 bln. Boss Mike Henry plans to ditch some high-polluting energy assets, albeit for economic, not environmental, motives. Regardless, a cleaner portfolio makes business sense.