I’m mixing up the schedule for this email a bit. Things tend to pile up at the end of the week, so I hope a mid-week update works for you.
Industry Vibes at CERAWeek
“In just a few weeks since Wright’s appointment, the industry has also realized that he’s not “our guy,” as many had – wrongly — assumed; he’s “Trump’s guy.”
CERAWeek is one of the most important energy gatherings of the year. It happened last week in Houston and headlines have been dripping out ever since and they are worth paying attention to.
After all, it’s also 10 grand to attend the event, so any information you can glean from attendees is worth paying attention to.
So what was the mood this year?
Energy execs are waking up to the idea that when Trump says he wants $50 oil, he means it. And, like the destruction an ‘economic transition’ is inflicting on other parts of the economy, if that price hurts some players in the industry, so be it.
“There’s a lot less optimism,” Scott Sheffield, former CEO of Pioneer Natural Resources told Bloomberg’s Javier Blas.
While the industry has welcomed the new administration and a light-handed regulatory approach, the President’s desire for lower oil prices doesn’t sit quite as well.
As Claudio Galimberti, chief economist at Rystad Energy told the FT:
“Fifty dollars a barrel is going to hurt the United States more than benefit it, and it’s definitely not going to allow the US to produce more oil, which is something that Trump also wants to see,”
So, there’s that…
Get the Scoop
Jason Bordoff of Columbia’s Center for Energy Policy sits down with Bloomberg’s Javier Blas and Ben German of Axios.
The discussion (podcast linked below) is worth taking some time to listen to. Topics range from oil prices and OPEC+ policy to LNG realities and pipe(line) dreams.
Even coal is discussed, noting the lack of presence at the conference despite one exec predicting that China will use more coal in the next decade than the US has used in its entire history.
In the Markets
Oil Prices – Unchanged
Oil prices haven’t really moved for the last two weeks. You can tell from the chart that the $64-66 level has a ton of support (meaning it has had trouble trading lower). You can also see from the bars at the bottom of the chart that volume is declining as it trends sideways.
Prices have already peeled off about $10 from highs near $80 in January.
As we noted above, there is plenty of pessimism in the market primarily due to more supply coming on the market. OPEC+ is ending its production cuts and a peace deal in Ukraine is sure to include some sort of sanctions relief with Russia.
That doesn’t mean there are no risks to the upside. Tension with Iran escalated this week with US strikes on the Houthis in Yemen. China is still trying to boost its drifting economy.
I wrote about some of these risks in our daily Energized newsletter.
The ROI of Training
I read this in a Linkedin report on talent development:
“Measuring ROI is notoriously difficult for Learning and Talent Development professionals, and there’s a disconnect between the metrics most commonly used in the world of learning and talent development and the metrics C-suite executives use to evaluate business performance.”
Any time you look to buy a course, or a degree, there’s a little math equation going on in your head as to whether it is worth the investment. As a training provider, we don’t explicitly hear this part of the conversation that often, yet we are distinctly aware that our sponsors are having it with their stakeholders.
Often, by the time they come to us, they have already determined that they need the training (or more likely, that the lack of it has a negative ROI).
We hear from the business development teams that we work with that it’s hard to pin any specific deal or sale down to having the team more informed about the industry, but that team members are definitely more CONFIDENT when speaking with customers and are better able to understand their business needs, challenges and where products and solutions might fit.
Hard to measure, but a clear benefit. How much is a bit more confidence worth when you’re walking into an interview?
Probably a lot.
All the best,
Doug and the EKT Interactive Team.
Energy Job Boards:
Be sure to check out these energy-focused job boards:
Energy Hire
Energy Jobline
Get Into Energy
| Follow us: We post regular content on learning and jobs. | Linkedin |
