Big oils next move8 Jul 2018 18:49
Several oil majors, including Royal Dutch Shell and BP, are boosting their share of natural gas output. A Bloomberg report said these two oil companies, by increasing gas production, are trimming the lead between them and ExxonMobil, the world’s largest publicly traded oil company. ExxonMobil has a current market cap of $348 bn, while Shell has market cap of $317 bn, and BP at $156 bn.
BP expects by 2020 to produce about 60 percent gas and 40 percent oil, a reversal from 2014 when it was the opposite – a pivot that many other oil companies will likely follow. ExxonMobil for its part currently produces about 55 percent oil and 45 percent gas and remains the largest natural gas producer in the US. Shell’s acquisition of UK-based BG Group for $50 bn in 2016 boosted the share of natural gas to 50 percent of its global fossil fuels output and made it the world’s largest natural gas trader.
Steve Hill, executive vice president for gas trading at Shell said recently “we see the market growing rapidly, with gas demand growing faster than overall energy demand,” adding that “we don’t see renewables as being a threat to gas.”
Brian Youngberg, an analyst at Edward Jones & Co., based in St. Louis, said in reference to gas that “in the fossil fuel area, it’s the one clear growth part of the business.”