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

    Electric car war sends lithium prices sky high

    This article by James Stafford for Mineweb may be of interest to subscribers. Here is a section:

    That’s why Goldman Sachs calls lithium the “new gasoline”. It’s also why The Economist calls it “the world’s hottest commodity”, and talks about a “global scramble to secure supplies of lithium by the world’s largest battery producers, and by end-users such as carmakers.”

    In fact, as the Economist notes, the price of 99%-pure lithium carbonate imported to China more than doubled in the two months to the end of December—putting it at a whopping $13,000 per ton.

    But what you might not know is that this playing field is fast becoming a battlefield that has huge names such as Apple, Google and start-up Faraday Future throwing down for electric car market share and even reportedly gaming to see who can steal the best engineers.

    Apple has now come out of the closet with plans for its own electric car by 2019, putting it on a direct collision course with Tesla. And Google, too, is pushing fast into this arena with its self-driving car project through its Alphabet holding company.

    Then we have the Faraday Future start-up—backed by Chinese billionaire Jia Yueting–which has charged onto this scene with plans for a new $1-billion factory in Las Vegas, and is hoping to produce its first car next year already.

    Ensuring the best engineers for all these rival projects opens up a second front line in the war. They’ve all been at each other’s recruitment throats for months, stealing each other’s prized staff.

    And when the wave of megafactories starts pumping out batteries—with the first slated to come online as soon as next year–we could need up to 100,000 tons of new lithium carbonate by 2021. It’s an amount of lithium we just don’t have right now.

     

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    It's expensive, but you need some insurance

    Thanks to a subscriber for this report from Deutsche Bank focusing on the outlook for gold not least as a hedge against fear in other asset classes. Here is a section:

    As a hedge against a weakening currency, we think Chinese gold demand will continue to increase, and whilst we do not forecast a repeat of 2013, physical demand could grow in the order of 10% or 100 tonnes. Chinese demand has increased by 14% CAGR since 2005. In the recent bout of RMB weakness we have seen increased trading volumes on the Shanghai Gold exchange, suggesting a higher propensity to buy gold as a hedge against a depreciating currency. Chinese buying remains tactical with the most activity occurring on the dips. We note that since the strong rally in gold, we have seen activity drop off on the SGE.

    Gold holds its own in a US recession
    Although we are not as bearish on the US to suggest that the entire economy will lapse into a recession, there are certain manufacturing sectors that are in a recession. Assuming the worst case scenario where the US slips into a recession, dragging the global economy with it, the USD normally performs very well as investors search for safe havens and US investors repatriate funds onshore. Gold is normally inversely correlated to the USD, but under these conditions i.e. extreme risk aversion, gold also performs relatively well. We outline the performance of the USD in the past two global recessions.

     

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    Email of the day on cyanobacteria and biofuel

    Have you' received any comments on developments with Cyanobacteria? The website of Joule Unlimited is intriguing. There is a short video which is worth watching. It is early days with this technology but I wonder if any of your subscribers have any realistic ideas about the potential

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    Musings from the Oil Patch February 23rd 2016

    Thanks to a subscriber for this edition of Allen Brooks’ ever interesting report which this month highlights the toll low prices are taking on Texas oil companies. Here is a lengthy section: 

    For example, the surprise decision by Southwestern Energy (SWN-NYSE) to lay off 40% of its staff, or more than 1,100 employees, and shut down all its drilling rigs after having recently moved into a massive new headquarters building shocked the industry. Likewise, ConocoPhillips (COP-NYSE), after defending its dividend through the first year of this downturn even at the cost of laying off staff, finally caved and cut its quarterly dividend by two-thirds from 74-cents to 25-cents per share. ExxonMobil (XOM-NYSE), after reporting weak earnings results for its fourth quarter, followed up last Friday by announcing it had failed to replace its production last year for the first time in 22 years, announced a 25% cut in its 2016 capital spending plans and the suspension of its share repurchase program. These steps are designed to reduce the drain in the company’s cash balances. Another optimist, Pioneer Natural Resources (PXD-NYSE), after signaling late last year that it might actually increase its 2016 capital spending by 20%-30% as a result of the multiple attractive exploration opportunities it has in its Permian Basin acreage, announced a 10% capex cut this year, which means it will be forced to cut in half the number of drilling rigs it operates, going from 24 at year-end 2015 to 12 by mid-year 2016. The latest industry bombshell was Devon Energy’s (DVN-NYSE) announcement just last week that it was slashing its 2016 capital spending by 75% and laying off 1,000 employees, or about 20% of its staff. The shock from this announcement had barely been digested when Devon announced the sale of up to 69 million shares of stock and raising potentially $1.6 billion in cash to shore up its balance sheet. The cash infusion also helps the company by reducing the pressure to depend partially on selling assets to help fund capital spending. 

    The sale of stock by Devon is another example of the continuing ability of energy companies to tap capital markets, something a growing number of observers believe is prolonging the needed spending reduction that will cause oil output to fall off materially and set the stage for a recovery in prices. According to Bloomberg, the energy industry has announced plans to raise $4.6 billion in new equity, accounting for nearly 30% of all new equity raised so far this year. The amount of equity being raised is almost evenly split among three deals – Pioneer Natural Resources, Hess Corporation (HES-NYSE) and Devon. Each of these deals was upsized from their original announcement reflecting high levels of demand from investors betting not only the individual companies surviving but that their share prices will soar when the oil price rises and energy industry fortunes improve. 

    The $4.6 billion equity raise so far this year compares with the $7.8 billion raised by exploration and production companies during the first two months of 2015, the fastest pace in raising new equity in over a decade. An interesting question is whether the capital raised in early 2015 has been wasted? If we consider what has been happening to companies within the E&P and oilfield service sectors, the oil price collapse is finally ending the corporate and investor strategy of “pretend and extend.” That strategy means that company executives have been selling lenders and investors on the view that a turnaround is just around the corner, so if they will just give them a little more time (and money?) the companies will be fine. As this strategy evaporates, the battle lines are drawn between managements and their owners. A change in the past is that many of the owners of the companies are investors who specialize in distressed securities. As a result, the struggle over how to redo the capital structure of energy companies becomes more intense as debt-owners, who have legal claims against the assets of the company, fight to gain the most ownership and thus stand to benefit the most whenever the share price recovers. 

    Many of these recapitalization struggles are being fought in the esoteric world of corporate bankruptcy law. The last great boom for the local bankruptcy industry occurred in the period of the 2008 financial crisis and the recession that followed. For energy, the greatest bankruptcy boom was the demise of the industry in the 1980s bust. A recent article about the state of the bankruptcy business, in response to the collapse in oil prices, was in The Houston Chronicle. The article included a graphic showing the number of Chapter 11 (the section of the bankruptcy law that provides for restructuring of financially distressed companies rather than liquidations of companies that is conducted under Chapter 8 of the code) filed in the Southern District and the State of Texas. In 2015, the number of bankruptcies filed in the Southern District approached close to those filed in 2008, the start of the financial crisis. The article cited a survey of 18 bankruptcy legal experts by The Texas Lawbook calling for a doubling of filings this year. 

    The fallout from the low oil prices and the hefty cash outlays producers have been making to play the shale revolution and/or to continue to generate cash flows is showing up in the growing number of exploration and production companies filing for bankruptcy. The Houston energy practice of the law firm Haynes & Boone is tracking those filings for both E&P and oilfield service companies in the United States and Canada. As of the listings on their web site, as of early February, 48 E&P companies and 44 oilfield service companies have filed since the start of 2015. The total of secured and unsecured debt involved in these bankruptcy filings totals $25.1 billion, split $17.3 billion for E&P companies and $7.8 billion for oilfield service companies.

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    The multi-asset essay: Why commodities will recover

    Thanks to a subscriber for this report from Deutsche Bank which may be of interest to subscribers. Here is a section:

    Our call for a final leg down in metals prices is based on weaker-than-expected oil prices and the potential depreciation of the Chinese renminbi. Metals currently are factoring in oil at $40 a barrel – not today’s prices of low $30s. Furthermore, a weaker Chinese currency is likely to drag down commodity currencies even further. But that is likely to be the end of this deflationary cycle.
    Management teams may be able to take out more costs, but we are at the point where these cuts would be unsustainable, ultimately leading to lower output in the future.

    Why is that? Because current spot prices are 40 to 50 per cent below so-called incentive prices, which are the prices required to earn a 12-15 per cent rate of return on a project. As a result, capital spending on new capacity has simply dried up, with industry capex down over 60 per cent versus the peak in 2012. Ore bodies are depleting assets and current capex levels are not sufficient to sustain current output for more than two to three years. In copper, for example, the world needs two new large-scale mines every year just to offset the reserve depletion.

    While oil prices are low, current spot prices for metals are well below the marginal cost of most producers. As an extreme example, nearly two-thirds of the nickel industry is under water. That has placed mining company balance sheets under intense pressure. We estimate the net debt of the largest companies will approach an uncomfortable 3.5 times ebitda by the end of the year. This could force an industry tipping point and, indeed, supply curtailments have already started to gather momentum. In aggregate, around five per cent of the industry’s capacity is in the process of closing. We need at least ten per cent of the capacity to be shuttered to reach critical mass. Given the stresses in the industry, we think this will occur during 2016 and will stabilise prices. It may take a little longer for capital constraints to become apparent, but as they do, metal price deflation will quickly turn to inflation. 

     

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    Berkshire Expands Energy Investments With Kinder Morgan Stake

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

    “It strikes me as a business that’s right up his alley,” said Jeff Matthews, an investor and author of Buffett-related books. “It’s a business that’s going to last for a long time,” he said. And the stock has “gotten crushed,” creating an opportunity to buy at an attractive price.

    Oil drillers, gold miners and rig operators have sacrificed dividends to conserve cash amid tumbling prices in oversupplied commodity markets. When Kinder Morgan cut its dividend, it pledged not to issue any new shares through the end of 2018.

    Shares Jump
    Kinder Morgan jumped 7.5 percent to $16.79 at 6:50 p.m. in extended trading in New York. Berkshire’s portfolio is closely watched by investors for clues into how the billionaire chairman and his backup stock pickers are thinking. Newly disclosed holdings often send shares higher.

    One of Buffett’s deputy investment managers, Todd Combs or Ted Weschler, could be responsible for the investment. Both have been building portfolios at Berkshire and tend to make smaller bets than their boss.

    “Our guess is that it’s Todd or Ted,” said Tony Scherrer, director of research at Smead Capital Management, which oversees about $2.1 billion including Berkshire shares. “It’s not insignificant, but it doesn’t smell like a straight-up Buffett move to us.”

    Energy Bets
    Other closely watched investment managers added holdings in the energy industry during the fourth quarter. David Tepper’s Appaloosa Management bought shares of Kinder Morgan and Energy Transfer Partners LP, while Seth Klarman’s Baupost Group increased its positions in Antero Resources Corp., an oil and gas producer, and Cheniere Energy Inc

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    Downside risk remains

    Thanks to a subscriber for this report from Deutsche Bank focusing on the shipping sector. Here is a section:

    Supply discipline is the only resort, but looks difficult to achieve 
    Another 518k TEU of mega vessels will hit the water in 2016 (with 800k more in both 2017 and 2018), which will force Asia-Europe capacity to grow c.10% in 2016 (vs. est.2% demand growth). Liners’ supply discipline has also become increasingly difficult to achieve, given the widening cost gap. While the latest mergers (Coscon+CSCL; CMA CGM+NOL) should further consolidate market share, pricing competition typically intensifies post mergers, based on prior experiences. This is due to liners seeking to preserve market share while cargo owners seek to diversify their risks. Moreover, the existing alliances are set to break up post mergers, creating short-term instability for the industry. 

    How deep and long will this downturn last? 
    The sector has traded down to 1.0x P/B, vs. 2016E ROE of -19%, which still looks expensive. During the GFC, the sector troughed at 0.5x P/B vs. ROE of -20%. More importantly, investor interest has waned over the past several years as the sector’s oversupply was widely expected to persist. This explains why the sector’s P/B range has not only moved down but also contracted. We expect a prolonged downcycle; hence, value will only emerge when P/B is closer to the GFC trough of 0.5x.

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    Early Morning Reid

    Thanks to a subscriber for this report by Jim Reid for Deutsche Bank which may be of interest. Here is a section:

    Talking of Oil and Gold, last week we showed a long-term graph of Oil in real adjusted terms, showing that the average real price since 1861 was $47. Following on from that, one ratio we occasionally look at is the ratio of various assets to the price of Gold. So today in the off we update the Oil/Gold ratio back to 1865 and find that the Gold price has just hit an all-time high at around 44 times the price of Oil. The previous high of 41 in 1892 has just been exceeded. For perspective, the ratio was at 6.6 in June 2008 and only 12 in May 2014. The long-term average is 15.5. While this says nothing about where the ratio is going in the short-term surely this looks a good trade to exploit over the longer-term for those who care about such things.

    A big reason behind the rally in Gold this year has been a flight to quality and the fading expectations of further Fed tightening in the next twelve months. Yesterday Yellen stuck largely to the script in acknowledging market concerns emanating from tightening financial conditions, while at the same time refusing to fully close any doors still open to the Fed later this year. That said the overall tone was certainly of a dovish leaning. Much was made of the passage suggesting that ‘financial conditions in the US have recently become less supportive of growth, with declines in broad based measures of equity prices, higher borrowing rates for riskier borrowers, and a further appreciation of the dollar’. Yellen said that should these developments prove to be persistent then they ‘could weigh on the outlook for economic activity and the labour market’.

     

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    Crude Oil Futures Surge After Closing at Lowest in 12 Years

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

    "It makes a lot of sense to cover shorts after plunging to new 12-year lows," said Bob Yawger, director of the futures division at Mizuho Securities USA in New York. "We had one of the more reliable people in OPEC say that it was willing to cooperate in making cuts. I don’t believe anything will come of it but you have to pay attention."

    And

    “Prices are not appropriate, I won’t say for the majority only, but for all producers,” U.A.E.’s Al Mazrouei said in the Sky News Arabia interview in Arabic on Wednesday. “The people who have spent money and have this investment, it’s natural that they won’t make cuts alone unless there is complete cooperation from everybody in that area.”

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