London South East prides itself on its community spirit, and in order to keep the chat section problem free, we ask all members to follow these simple rules. In these rules, we refer to ourselves as "we", "us", "our". The user of the website is referred to as "you" and "your".
By posting on our share chat boards you are agreeing to the following:
The IP address of all posts is recorded to aid in enforcing these conditions. As a user you agree to any information you have entered being stored in a database. You agree that we have the right to remove, edit, move or close any topic or board at any time should we see fit. You agree that we have the right to remove any post without notice. You agree that we have the right to suspend your account without notice.
Please note some users may not behave properly and may post content that is misleading, untrue or offensive.
It is not possible for us to fully monitor all content all of the time but where we have actually received notice of any content that is potentially misleading, untrue, offensive, unlawful, infringes third party rights or is potentially in breach of these terms and conditions, then we will review such content, decide whether to remove it from this website and act accordingly.
Premium Members are members that have a premium subscription with London South East. You can subscribe here.
London South East does not endorse such members, and posts should not be construed as advice and represent the opinions of the authors, not those of London South East Ltd, or its affiliates.
I very recently confidently asserted that we'd have no worries from eco activists in T & T. I believed this because the locals will want to remain wealthier than their neighbours in the Caribbean. Within minutes of posting, I read that eco activists in the Bahamas are trying to shaft BPC, and their shares took a hit of some 35%.
The Bahamas are the 4th richest nation per GDP in the Western Hemisphere but a world apart from T & T, which is an industrialised nation built on petroleum chemicals rather than banking, so hopefully no opposition to our plans. Plus, we are reworking existing wells not drilling new ones in pristine waters.
The BPC situation interests me not only because it shows o & g really is up against it, which is why it's great we are greener than most. It could be good news for us, because if drilling Perseverance delayed, they will want to max out income from the other string to their bow, the FRAM wells in T &T that they picked up from Columbus. Most of their bb members thought it was a ridiculous diversion, mere beer money and more effort than worth. They may soon be eating their words and may be begging us to help, and quickly. They are short of readies and the board and shareholders were hoping for a big rise pre spud...instead the reverse is happening...
Good morning Nicodemus,
I think your observations are spot-on. ESG as a phenomenon has, in my view, been a very good think and has acted as a lever for investors concerned about the plant's future to have some kind of benchmark upon which to make investment decisions, outside of the purely financial (though I would argue that sustainability - of a business itself, not some weird , abstract term - is actually intrinsic to a financial evaluation).
Sustainability in itself is not entirely an objective benchmark but it is most definitely better than the blancmange notion of "social". And particularly as you point out, the whole notion of "social" is so susceptible to political prisms.
To give but one example, Saddam Hussein was a despicable tyrant. But he knew how to operate in his part of the world and functioned as a counter-point to the mad mullahs in Tehran. Removing him, however well-intentioned, was a catastrophic disaster for the region and left a vacuum that actually empowered Iran and sparked a deeper conflict across the whole Middle East, stretching down to Yemen.
The same might also be said of the ludicrous, murdering buffoon Gaddafi. He may have been despicable but he kind of kept Libya and its surrounds in some sort of order. His removal left a vacuum that was filled by ISIS and their like.
The supplanting of Sustainable wIth Social in ESG is a very low quality move and will debase what should have been a very important metric upon which to benchmark investment decisions.
There in lies the rub Tesla. Like me until very recently, you've assumed that ESG was all about eco protection concerns with carbon reduction, saving rainforests, coral reefs etc.
I'm sure that was the idea, but the 'S' is now being touted as 'Social' rather than "Sustainable'. A article in the Investor's Chronical a couple of days urged caution regarding one of my investments, Rainbow Rare Earth, despite ticking all the eco boxes. They said it would fail ESG on 'Social' would you believe, because the government in Brundi doesn't truck too.much political opposition.
Looks like yet again, the West is deciding to dictate elsewhere that everyone must emulate our systems of government irrespective whether it leads to ethno religious massacres, civil war or complete breakdown of society e.g Iraq, Libya, Syria...
Drilling in the middle of the desert is far less controversial. When the Moroccan government build the new power station they hopefully will incorporate carbon capture and sequestration. I'd like to think it is already in Paul's game plan.
Has anyone else noticed that politically charged acronyms have a life of their own. Those who 'champion' the notions are designed to represent are very often the type of picky tossfaces who are never happy leave things be.
Thus ESG; Environment, Sustainability and Governance has recently morphed in Environment, Social and Governance.
Gives the the righteous more ammunition and and easy target the size of a barn door.. Quite clearly a country with a non democratically elected government could have some very sound Sustainability programmes and that simply would not do.
Luckily, Ireland and T & T should definitely pass muster. Morocco is questionable, but as one of the most liberal, (both politically and socially) Arab nations, we should be free from the attentions of the 'Social' zealots.