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David Fuller and Eoin Treacy's Comment of the Day
Category - Energy

Email of the day on intermarket correlations

The January 2016 to April 2016 correlation between the CCI Index (especially oil component), and world equity markets, and the $US (inverse) has been widely noted. From late April the equities/dollar relationship has been maintained (both have mildly reversed) but unusually, the stronger dollar seems not to have had the same impact on commodity prices.

That a stronger dollar has not hit oil or gold is a little surprising.  This is especially the case for oil, which also faces the prospect of increasing supply, but how can gold be expected to continue its advance?  

 



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Oil Rises From Two-Week Low Amid Libya, Nigeria Supply Fears

This article by Mark Shenk for Bloomberg may be of interest to subscribers. Here is a section: 

Oil rose from a two-week low on concern that supplies from Nigeria and Libya, holders of Africa’s largest crude reserves, will be disrupted.

Futures advanced 2.8 percent in New York. Royal Dutch Shell Plc and Chevron Corp. are evacuating workers from the Niger Delta because of deteriorating security, a union official said.
In Libya, some fields will be forced to halt output unless a port blockade is lifted, according to the National Oil Corp.

Canada’s oil-sands companies curbed supply as wildfires ripped across Northern Alberta last week. Gains accelerated as global equities rose.

"The market is getting support from the disruption in Canadian oil sands production and increased threats to output in the Niger Delta," said Gene McGillian, a senior analyst and broker at Tradition Energy in Stamford, Connecticut.

"The underlying fundamentals remain weak. If not for supply disruptions and the decline in U.S. production, prices would be lower."

Crude has rebounded from a 12-year low earlier this year on signs the global oversupply will ease as non-OPEC output declines and regional supply faces threats in Africa and Canada.

 



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Lithium 101

Thanks to a subscriber for this comprehensive heavyweight 170-page report on lithium. If you have questions on the lithium sector the chances are they will be answered by this report. Here is a section: 

Global lithium S&D analysis highlights opportunity for high-quality assets
The emergence of the Electric Vehicle and Energy Storage markets is being driven by a global desire to reduce carbon emissions and break away from traditional infrastructure networks. This shift in energy use is supported by the improving economics of lithium-ion batteries. Global battery consumption is set to increase 5x over the next 10 years, placing pressure on the battery supply chain & lithium market. We expect global lithium demand will increase from 181kt Lithium Carbonate Equivalent (LCE) in 2015 to 535kt LCE by 2025. In this Lithium 101 report, we analyse key demand drivers and identify the lithium players best-positioned to capitalise on the emerging battery thematic. 

Global lithium demand to triple over the next 10 years
The dramatic fall in lithium-ion costs over the last five years from US$900/kWh to US$225/kWh has improved the economics of Electric Vehicles and Energy Storage products as well as opening up new demand markets. Global battery consumption has increased 80% in two years to 70GWh in 2015, of which EV accounted for 35%. We expect global battery demand will reach 210GWh in 2018 across Electric Vehicles, Energy Storage & traditional markets. By 2025, global battery consumption should exceed 535GWh. This has major impacts on lithium. Global demand increased to 184kt LCE in 2015 (+18%), leading to a market deficit and rapid price increases. We expect lithium demand will reach 280kt LCE by 2018 (+18% 3-year CAGR) and 535kt LCE by 2025 (+11% CAGR). 

Supply late to respond but wave of projects coming; prices are coming down 
Global lithium production was 171kt LCE in 2015, with 83% of supply from four producers: Albemarle, SQM, FMC and Sichuan Tianqi. Supply has not responded fast enough to demand, and recent price hikes have incentivized new assets to enter the market. Orocobre (17.5ktpa), Mt. Marion (27ktpa), Mt. Cattlin (13ktpa), La Negra (20ktpa), Chinese restarts (17ktpa) and production creep should take supply to 280kt LCE by 2018, in line with demand. While the market will be in deficit in 2016, it should rebalance by mid-2017, which should see pricing normalize. Our lithium price forecasts are on page 9.

 



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Gasoline Demand Is A Red Herring For The Oil Market

Thanks to a subscriber for this article by Art Berman covering US gasoline demand. Here is a section:

Meanwhile, net gasoline exports are at record high levels. Exports have increased 1,443 kbpd since June 2005.

So, consumption has increased but remains far below pre-2012 levels. Production is again approaching earlier peak levels but most of the increased volume is being exported. The belief that U.S. consumption is approaching record highs is simply not true.

Americans Are Driving More But Using A Lot Less Gasoline

Americans are driving more than ever before. Vehicle miles traveled (VMT) reached an all-time high of 3.15 trillion miles in February 2016 (Figure 2).

VMT have increased 97 billion miles per month (3%) since the beginning of 2015 and gasoline sales have increased 187 kbpd (2%). The rates of increase are not proportional.

For example, VMT was fairly flat from mid-2011 until oil prices collapsed in September 2014 yet gasoline sales fell more than 1 million barrels per day during the same period. Americans traveled the same number of miles but used a lot less gasoline. Even with the VMT increase since 2015, sales are still 539 kbpd less than in January 2009.

 



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Musings from the Oil Patch May 3rd 2016

Thanks to a subscriber for this edition of Allen Brooks’ ever interesting report for PPHB. Here is a section: 

This time around, the discussion seems to be heading in a slightly different direction. Mr. Kibsgaard believes that the downturn will result in a “medium for longer” pricing scenario in which the national oil companies of OPEC can still generate significant returns for their owners due to the low cost base of their conventional resources. With this cost advantage and a desire to play for market share in a world of minimal demand growth, cost issues for producers will become very important. In his view, the procurement-driven contracting model is the main obstacle to creating the performance improvement desired by the customers. The problem comes from producer procurement professionals who believe the service companies don’t bring much to the engineering aspect of projects thus the only way the companies can be compared is by price, which means comparing them on the basis of their more commodity-oriented products. 

In Mr. Kibsgaard’s view, the procurement-driven model leads to suboptimal technical solutions and correspondingly poor project performance from both a design and executional standpoint. That also means financial returns will be negatively impacted. In light of this outlook, Schlumberger has been undertaking a revamping of how it competes based on collaboration and commercial alignment between the operators and the largest service companies. This preparation can be seen through their acquisition strategy during the past few years as Schlumberger has filled holes in its technology suite and extended its ability to do more of what was often contracted to others, which has become more important for retaining complete control of projects. 

Schlumberger is close to putting five prototype drilling rigs into the field to test its new drilling system that will capitalize on its downhole instruments to help guide and evaluate the formations being drilled and render information to the drilling equipment and the people at the surface. By automating the drilling process based on the downhole intelligence, wells can be drilled faster, cheaper, safer and with a greater productivity outcome. It is possible fewer workers will be needed on the rigs further reducing the cost of drilling wells and potentially helping both the operator and service company improve returns.

Competitors will be watching Schlumberger closely. Initial successes will pressure competitor management teams to consider broadening their product and service offerings followed by how to make them more integrated and profitable. Producers will be watching the experiment as they wrestle with how to increase their profit margins if oil prices remain in the $40-$55 per barrel range for a number of years. If producers cannot grow production because of low industry growth, they will need to strive to become more profitable in order to be rewarded by investors.



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TerraForm Power Believes It Has Sufficient Liquidity to Operate

This note by Will Daley for Bloomberg may be of interest to subscribers. 

Even if some SUNE obligations are not fulfilled, TERP expects to continue operating

Defaults may now exist under many of TERP’s non-recourse project-debt financing pacts (or such defaults may arise in the future) due to SUNE bankruptcy filing, delays in preparation of audited financial statements

Defaults “are generally curable"; TERP will work with its project lenders to obtain waivers and/or forbearance agreements

No assurances can be given that waivers, forbearance agreements will be obtained

 



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Musings From the Oil Patch April 19th 2016

Thanks to a subscriber for this edition of Allen Brooks’ ever interesting report for PPHB. Here is a section: 

In light of that view, a critical question is whether a real economic transformation can be performed. An earlier attempt was made in 2000 following the late 1990s oil price downturn and the expensive Saudi-financed war to oust Saddam Hussein’s troops from neighboring Kuwait. The financial pain of that experience was washed away by the rebound in oil prices that ended that transition effort. That experience leads Saudis to expect something to bail them out from having to make hard economic and social decisions.  

Critical to this transition effort will be the mindset of the young Saudis who dominate the country’s population. By 2030, the youth group will add 4.5 million new Saudis to the labor force, nearly doubling its current size to 10 million workers. If the female labor force participation rate increases the number could be larger. This population demographic will force the economy to have to create three times the number of jobs for Saudis than it did during the oil boom of 2003-2013, which seems highly unlikely to occur. 

There are a number of social impediments to making this transition occur, including Saudi reluctance to take blue-collar jobs that are thought to be menial. Saudi workers enjoy the slow pace and shorter working hours of government jobs. There is also a problem associated with tapping the young females in the country who are constrained by the social stigmas of not being able to drive and not earning enough to employ a car and driver. Here is where modern technology is helping as Uber helps liberate some of these females. More females are taking white-collar jobs in the private sector. Instead of becoming teachers, many are become lawyers and professionals. The challenge is that many of them are willing to trade down to government jobs with shorter hours when they have children. There are also social and employment issues involved with marriage when a woman’s father prefers that a prospective husband have the security of a government job. 

Probably the greatest challenge for Saudi Arabia is that both the rulers and the ruled have been satisfied with the social compact that underlies the nation. The populace trades loyalty and obedience to the government in exchange for prosperity, which costs the government substantially. The new social compact will demand greater self-reliance from the people in exchange for their prosperity. Whether the populous understands how precarious their position is in continuing to depend on the government’s continuing largess because of the current and future market for oil. 



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Exxon Says `$25 Billion Rule' Will Sink Deepwater Oil Drilling

This article by Joe Carroll for Bloomberg may be of interest to subscribers. Here is a section:

Environmental groups say the new rules don’t go far enough to safeguard marine life and the people who depend on it for their livelihoods. Friends of the Earth has called on the government to halt all auctions of offshore drilling leases.

“There’s no such thing as safe offshore drilling,” said Marissa Knodel, a climate campaigner for the Washington-based group. “Tougher rules aren’t going to mitigate the human and environmental costs of allowing more drilling to occur.”

Government Shortcomings
In a closed-door meeting last month, BP, the largest driller in the U.S., said the government underestimated the time and complexity needed to implement the rules, ignored the reduced production and stranded reserves that would result, and added unneeded operations that could boost risks rather than decrease them. The comments came in slides Exxon presented at the meeting and were posted on a government website.

The Deepwater Horizon disaster looms large over federal attempts to tighten requirements. The blowout at the $153 million well sank a $365 million drillship, paralyzed the Gulf region for months and cost BP more than $40 billion in penalties, compensation and restoration costs.

Exxon, in the closed-door meeting with White House and Interior Department officials on March 7, outlined its assertion that the rules will cost $25 billion and argued they would increase the danger of a blowout by wresting decision-making from on-site engineers with decades of experience.

 



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Jamie Dimon's Rate-Spike Nightmare

This article by Lisa Abramowicz and Rani Molla for Bloomberg may be of interest to subscribers. Here is a section: 

3) Investors are piling into medium and longer-term U.S. bonds with increasing conviction that borrowing costs will stay low forever. The biggest exchange-traded funds that focus on such notes have experienced a surge of new money this year, with the volume of short interest on the ETFs' shares falling. This has helped fuel a 4.9 percent surge in Treasuries maturing in seven to 10 years so far this year, according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch index data.
 
4) The demand hasn't only come from ETFs and mutual funds. Big institutions and hedge funds have also bought more U.S. government bonds, particularly those maturing in the next decade, as they seek safe spots to park cash in the face of global economic uncertainty. 



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Musings from the Oil Patch April 5th 2016

Thanks to a subscriber for this edition of Allen Brooks’ report for PPHB. Here is a section:

There is another aspect of U.S. production that is troubling given the rapid increase in oil prices during March. While we believe much of that increase was driven by speculators who had bet on oil prices falling and were rapidly covering those short positions as optimism about rising demand and falling output supporting higher oil prices grew. As oil prices rallied on the reports of steps being taken to reign in production growth and optimistic estimates for rising demand took hold, industry focus shifted to the question of at what oil price would producers resume drilling? Often overlooked in this process was how higher oil prices would encourage producers to begin completing previously drilled but uncompleted wells, or DUCs as they are referred to. DUCs will enable oil production to recover without an increase in the drilling rig count. It is this phenomenon that had us wondering whether we could see a repeat of what has happened in the natural gas market – steadily rising production despite fewer rigs drilling.
 

When we plot the price of natural gas and crude oil to the number of drilling rigs searching for each of these commodities, we find very close relationships. Those relationships are shown in the following exhibits.

What is equally interesting is the pattern between natural gas and crude oil production versus the number of active drilling rigs seeking the respective commodities. The chart in Exhibit 5 (next page), while busy, is instructive for its relationship between natural gas output and gas drilling rigs. One goes up relentlessly while the other steadily declines. In contrast, crude oil output, which had risen unchecked is now in decline, but only months later than the drop in drilling rigs began. The decline is now being hastened as a result of how few oil drilling rigs are working. What makes the volume-to-drilling-rigs relationship for natural gas different from that of crude oil? Most likely it is the impact of associated natural gas volumes. In 1993, associated natural gas from crude oil wells accounted for 26% to 28% of gross natural gas produced. The ratio declined steadily until 2013 when it was in the 15% to 18% range, but by the end of 2013 was up sharply to 20%.

In the case of natural gas drilling, the fewer rigs working are targeting the most productive areas of the formations. On the other hand, during 2014 and early 2015, oil drilling continued at a high rate adding, we suspect, additional associated natural gas. This probably explains why gas volumes have continued to climb. With crude oil output now falling and both oil and natural gas drilling off sharply, one has to believe that the associated natural gas component of supply will shrink, possibly finally stopping the climb in natural gas volumes. If that happens, look for natural gas prices to begin rising, even with the huge volumes of gas in storage. Should we get a warm summer and economic activity continue to grow, we could see a more positive response by natural gas prices heading into the fall of 2016. That might become the surprise of 2016. 



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