What’s going on?
Oil giant Shell warned investors on Thursday that its run of record quarterly profit is about to come to an end.
What does this mean?
What benefits oil companies and what benefits the wider world isn’t always the same – that much was clear after war erupted in Europe back in February. The ensuing jump in oil prices led to a boom for the industry and handed Shell two back-to-back quarters of record profit. But the global economy’s tanked in the meantime, and all of a sudden the outlook for oil has dimmed – with prices taking a tumble from their over $120-a-barrel price back in June. Add weaker gas trading and falling demand for plastics to the mix, and it’s no surprise that Shell said its profit will probably underwhelm when the numbers emerge at the end of the month.
Why should I care?
For markets: A slim ray of HOPEC.
OPEC+, a group of oil producing nations, is less than thrilled with falling oil prices, and has announced plans to reduce supply by two million barrels a day – twice the rumored amount. Now, while that move will probably spur a recovery in oil prices, the effect might not actually be as drastic as it seems: weaker members of OPEC+ have struggled to keep up with existing production targets anyway, so the actual dent to supply could be less than the official figure suggests.
The bigger picture: The grass is always greener – the future, not so much.
Many companies – including Shell – have ambitious plans to pivot to green energy, but it looks like they aren’t investing enough. According to experts, the world needs to be spending $4 on renewables for every $1 we spend on high-polluting energy by 2030. Do that, and we have a chance of reaching net-zero by 2050 – but given that we haven’t even reached a spending ratio of 1:1 yet, it’s a long shot.
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Originally Posted October 6, 2022 – Shell Takes A Shelling
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