Good day,
In its annual LNG Outlook report, Shell stated that the worldwide demand for liquefied natural gas (LNG) has shot up by 12.5% to touch 359 million tons in 2019. The oil major expects to see demand double by 2040 because LNG is playing a growing role in shaping a lower-carbon energy system. Most of the growth stems from Asia – with Bangladesh, India and Pakistan representing 19% of the growth and China growing by 14% in 2019. Though the impact of the coronavirus is expected to impede growth in the short-term, Shell believes that the market will see equilibrium driven by a combination of continued demand growth and reduction in new supply coming on-stream until the mid-2020s.
Did you know?
Shipment volume in the U.S. by truck, rail, air and barge plunged 9.4% in January 2020 compared to the already weak January a year earlier. It was the 14th month in a row of year-over-year declines, and the steepest since October 2009.
Quotable
“North America is full of companies that, on the exploration and production side, probably shouldn’t be here anymore. There’s too much debt in the system, and those guys won’t survive.”
– Marcel Hewamudalige, a Houston-based managing director at Evercore Group LLC, commenting on the difficulty in coping up to the falling oil prices.
In other news
China’s manufacturing supply chain pummelled from all side in efforts to restart
Coronavirus costs keep mounting for manufacturers, who are facing huge losses in sales and struggling to ramp up production. (SCMP)
Hyundai is entering the hydrogen truck market
The Korean automaker will compete with Nikola, Toyota and Tesla’s Cybertruck and Semi. (Oilprice)
Grocers wrest control of shelf space from struggling food giants
Big brands are losing the power to dictate how products are displayed at markets that now rely on their own data. (WSJ)
Retail optimization startup Teikametrics raises $15M as it expands beyond Amazon and beyond ads
The company launched with the goal of helping Amazon sellers advertise more effectively. More recently, it launched a similar partnership with Walmart. (TechCrunch)
US oil industry expected to cut spending by 10-15% and restructure, Dallas Fed says
The decline in oil production growth will have a substantial impact on the energy service companies. (CNBC)
Final Thoughts
During its quarterly earnings call, Walmart mentioned that it expects to save $60 million annually on plastic shopping bags by changing its buying process and by leveraging the scale of its business. The company also plans to cut the cost of vests worn by its sales staff by 15%, making the clothes with recyclable materials – incidentally, making its operations more sustainable. For Walmart, its massive scale and spread across North America ensures that a slight tweak in its processes will end up saving it millions, while also contributing to a reduced carbon footprint.
Hammer down everyone!