Crude oil prices are now trading at the same levels as they were on the Friday before the bombing attacks on the Saudi Arabian oil fields. That seems odd. Five decades of Middle East strife has taught market traders that significant cuts to oiling due to war leads to prolonged spikes in prices.
This is not just a 1970s phenomenon. As recently as 2003 and the second US-Iraqi conflict, the global economy experienced an oil shock of mid-$20 per barrel pricing motoring up to $140 per barrel by 2008.
Sure, the recent Saudi outage is not quite a war scenario but the precision (too precise?) attack has taken out 5 million barrels or almost 5% of global oil supply. That’s not far off the impact of the 2003 Iraq war, and the initial 20% spike in oil prices on news of the attack did reflect a major event in energy markets. Of course, the Saudis and an election-frazzled Trump administration were quick to reassure markets about adequate reserves, quick restoration of supply etc. However, almost two weeks after the attack there is a growing acceptance by Saudi Arabia’s wannabe IPO, state oil company Aramco, that production facilities will be out of action for many months, possibly a year. That’s before we even mention a ramping up of tensions with alleged attack sponsor, Iran. Bluntly, where has all the fear gone?
Perhaps it has been replaced by a greater fear. Donald Trump was so scared of a 16 year old at the UN meeting in New York he chose to skip the Climate Action Summit and instead made a speech at a Religious Freedom meeting. Always important to keep those avangelicals happy. As for the one million Uighur Muslims incarcerated in China, there wasn’t even a mention. Happily, Greta Thunberg’s fear-filled speech garnered far more attention than the Dear Orange Leader’s.
The teenage wake up call to the world was quickly followed by a rather scary report from Goldman Sachs(hardly a leftie liberal socialist champion) highlighting the significant impact of climate change on urban populations living less than 10 meters above sea level. The numbers are staggering and sadly it might be too late to prevent the consequences of an already warmer world. The warning from this Wall Street leader was stark, “ It might be prudent for some cities to start investing in adaptation now.”
Clearly, there is a growing consensus that carbon/greenhouse emissions are affecting climate. We have written previously on some leading hedge funds who now factor climate change into ALL their investment decisions. Arguably, the smart money has been selling out of oil for years. Here are a few data points which tell that story. The first is a chart showing how the S&P 500(orange) has diverged dramatically from the downward trajectory of oil prices(blue) since the middle of 2014. It has been a period of healthy economic growth so that is quite striking.
It is not just the commodity price which has lagged the market. Exxon Mobile is about to drop out of the S&P 500’s top 10 stocks for the first time in 90 years. Furthermore, the energy sector now accounts for just 4% of the overall US market. One can’t help feeling that actions of economic leaders are being watched very closely. Take, for example, the decision by Amazon to place an order for 100,000 electric delivery vans(yes, that is the correct number of zeros) from a company, Rivian, of which you probably have never even heard.
Oil services stocks which support the major oil companies on infrastructure, logistics etc have seen their share prices fall more than 50% in 2019. That’s in a year when markets are actually up more than 20%. We have seen commentary on Wall Street puzzling over this wealth evaporation and wailing, “The oil service stocks are trading at prices that imply the entire fossil fuel industry will disappear”. That is an extreme outcome but there is a growing sense that climate change is an extreme challenge. Even Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has decided we will never be called Oiland(or Oirland) as he has told the UN Climate Summit that oil exploration in our waters will end.
Returning to our own confusion about the lack of fear over the Saudi attacks we must consider that the temporary spike in oil prices was yet another opportunity for professional investors to lower their exposure(sell) to an industry in the cross hairs of a fearful planet and motivated leaders. In a week when the WeWork IPO has revealed itself as a “greater fool” proposition we would note that the Saudis whose entire economy depends on fossil fuels is also trying to IPO/sell you Aramco.
WeWork didn’t work, its CEO is now out of work and the franchise itself might not see out 2020. In this warming world oil now generates a new set of fears and it doesn’t help the pricing of the product. The greater planetary health fear will win out over old-fashioned energy supply fears and that perennial investor behavioural companion, the fear of missing out. Steer clear of your old fears; the teenagers are the brave ones and will sadly be proven correct.
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