DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ Premarket stocks: The Fed wants to limit wage growth. That's particularly bad for women
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-10 | by ( Nicole Goodkind | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

What’s happening: Never-married women earned just 92% of what never-married men did last year, according to the Wells Fargo report. Those wage gaps are “persistently disappointing,” ADP’s Chief Economist Nela Richardson told CNN on Thursday. Markets suffer: Companies with smaller gender pay gaps tend to be rewarded by their shareholders. “The gender pay gap is informing investment strategies,” wrote Refinitiv analysts in a recent report. “Our recent analysis shows that [shares of] companies with no gender pay gap outperform companies with pay gaps between male and female employees,” wrote Refinitiv.

☆ Big Oil Gushes Cash Because It Doesn’t Know Where to Invest
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-09 | by ( Carol Ryan | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Photo: Adria Malcolm for The Wall Street JournalA solar panel near a gas lift well site in New Mexico. Oil-and-gas companies are still trying to figure out where to invest for the energy transition. The resulting hiatus makes for great shareholder returns, but not a long-term strategy. The hot topics at CERAWeek by S&P Global , an annual industry gathering in Houston, are the impact on global energy markets of the Ukraine war and new opportunities from the Biden administration’s Inflation Reduction Act. In a bad sign for the European Union, many executives find the U.S. initiative more appealing, even after Europe sketched the outlines of a rival policy.

☆ U.S. won't reach a new record in oil production 'ever again,' says Pioneer Natural Resources CEO
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-09 | by ( Ian Thomas | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Many oil companies have outlined production increases as part of spending plans this year, though oil companies are now in an era of greater fiscal discipline, not shy about signaling they will favor shareholder rewards like stock buybacks over higher production levels. "I think gas prices at the pump are not so bad at this price, so I think it's optimal," she said. The White House has pushed oil companies to use their record profits to ramp up production instead of on buybacks or increasing dividends. Biden said U.S. oil majors invested "too little of that profit" to ramp up domestic production to help keep gas prices down. "Instead, they used those record profits to buy back their own stock, rewarding their CEOs and shareholders."

☆ Factbox: Biden budget targets U.S. fossil fuel subsidies
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Here are some details about U.S. fossil fuel subsidies:HOW MUCH ARE THEY WORTH? Axing the subsidies would save the government nearly $31 billion over 10 years, Biden's fiscal year 2024 budget proposal says. Before taking office, Biden promised to get rid of fossil fuel subsidies as part of a multi-pronged effort to fight climate change that also included ending new drilling on public lands. For one, they require an act of Congress, and Republicans and some Democrats oppose the removal of fossil fuel subsidies. The International Energy Agency estimated that so-called consumption subsidies for fossil fuels doubled in 2022 to $1 trillion globally.

☆ Biden budget would cut deficit by $3 trillion over next decade with 25% minimum tax on richest Americans
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-09 | by ( Emma Kinery | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

President Joe Biden released his budget on Thursday, vowing to cut $3 trillion from the federal deficit over the next decade, in part, by levying a 25% minimum tax on the wealthiest Americans. "It does this in part by reforming our tax code to reward work, not wealth, including by ensuring that no billionaire pays a lower tax rate than a teacher or firefighter and by quadrupling the tax rate on corporate stock buybacks," Young said. In addition to social spending, the budget includes robust defense funding. House Budget Chairman Jodey Arrington told CNN on Wednesday the GOP budget should be ready by the second week in May. Preempting Republican concerns, Rouse stressed the ways the Biden White House has repeatedly bucked economic expectations.

☆ Factbox: Biden budget to target U.S. fossil fuel subsidies
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Here are some details about U.S. fossil fuel subsidies:HOW MUCH ARE THEY WORTH? Calculating the cost of U.S. subsidies for the fossil fuel industry is complex because the incentives stretch across the U.S. tax code, but estimates range from $10 to $50 billion per year. Before taking office, Biden promised to get rid of fossil fuel subsidies as part of a multi-pronged effort to fight climate change that also included ending new drilling on public lands. For one, they require an act of Congress, and Republicans and some Democrats oppose the removal of fossil fuel subsidies. The International Energy Agency estimated that so-called consumption subsidies for fossil fuels doubled in 2022 to $1 trillion globally.

☆ U.S. Shale Boom Shows Signs of Peaking as Big Oil Wells Disappear
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-08 | by ( Collin Eaton | Benoît Morenne | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

HOUSTON—The boom in oil production that over the last decade made the U.S. the world’s largest producer is waning, suggesting the era of shale growth is nearing its peak. Frackers are hitting fewer big gushers in the Permian Basin, America’s busiest oil patch, the latest sign they have drained their catalog of good wells. Shale companies’ biggest and best wells are producing less oil, according to data reviewed by The Wall Street Journal.

Among methods that produce what is known as green hydrogen are electrolysis to split water into hydrogen and oxygen using power from renewables. The technology for shipping hydrogen is still in early stages of development, said Chevron's vice president of hydrogen Austin Knight. About 30-35% of the total energy system will need hydrogen to decarbonize, he said. NextEra is working with the U.S. Treasury on rules that govern what can be considered green hydrogen, he said. The process is complicated by the variability of renewable power supply from wind and solar, he said.

☆ Oxy CEO Vicki Hollub doesn't seem worried about White House pressure on buybacks, oil prices
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-07 | by ( Eric Rosenbaum | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

That new fiscal approach from the energy patch has not made the White House happy, especially when oil prices and oil company profits were at a peak last year. Gas prices are right where they should be right now, she says, and are likely to stay this way. If there is risk to gas prices this year, it's to the upside. Amid high gas prices last year, the Biden administration released the most oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve on record, 180 million barrels. Among the reasons oil prices will remain higher?

☆ Big Oil and green energy, TV dating in Korea and the battle for Bakhmut: podcast
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

Big Oil and green energy, TV dating in Korea and the battle for Bakhmut: podcast, article with imagePodcasts category · March 7, 2023 · 10:56 AM UTC‘Houston, we have a problem’- Bumper oil profits and the green revolution.

Others welcomed it as a sign the energy industry would get involved in the transition. Russia's invasion of Ukraine sparked an energy crunch that disrupted fossil fuel supplies to industry and consumers. A disorderly energy transition could be "painful and chaotic", Wirth said. Top U.S. oil firm Exxon said each country would take a different path to energy transition, depending on the resources available. In some countries, gas would be a transition fuel, said Liam Mallon, the president upstream oil and gas at Exxon.

☆ Premarket stocks: What you need to know about this earnings season
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-03 | by ( Nicole Goodkind | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

New York CNN —About 99% of all S&P 500 companies have reported fourth quarter earnings and the results aren’t great. Companies listed in the S&P 500 index beat analysts’ earnings estimates by an average of just 1.3% last quarter. The market is “rewarding positive earnings surprises more than average and punishing negative earnings surprises much less than average for the fourth quarter,” reports FactSet. Inflation is (still) a big dealMore than 325 S&P 500 companies have cited the term “inflation” during their earnings calls for the fourth quarter. This marks the lowest number of S&P 500 companies using the “I”-word on their calls since the third quarter of 2021.

☆ BP CEO defends spending plans as climate protesters block entrance to London energy conference
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( Sam Meredith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Holding banners reading "Climate Criminals Enter Here" and "No New Oil," activists from climate action group Fossil Free London gathered outside the luxury hotel to protest BP's continued fossil fuel investment. "An energy system that works is one that provides energy that is secure and affordable as well as lower carbon — what's known as the energy trilemma," Looney said. "To solve it, action is clearly needed to accelerate the energy transition and at the same time, that transition has got to be orderly. We need to invest in the energy transition and — not or — we need to invest in today's energy system, which is predominantly an oil and gas system." The extraordinary scale of the oil and gas industry's earnings has renewed criticism and sparked calls for higher taxes.

☆ Goldman Sachs upgrades Shell to buy, says oil giant can surge 40%
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( Hakyung Kim | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Energy giant Shell could be a big winner going forward, according to Goldman Sachs. Analyst Michele Della Vigna upgraded the stock to buy from neutral and hiked his price target on the company's U.S.-listed shares to $85 from $74. "In our view, Shell has the highest quality combination of assets in the sector, with a leading global LNG and marketing businesses and strong chemical presence," Della Vigna wrote Monday. Della Vigna added that Shell has its lowest oil break-even price in recent history, also falling below current spot and average prices among other big oil companies in the European Union. "We expect this positive trend to continue, driven by material upside to operational performance in both deepwater and LNG asset uptime," he wrote.

☆ Dow said it was recycling our shoes. We found them in Indonesia
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +19 min

While the sample was small, the fact that none of these shoes made it to a Singapore recycling facility underscores weaknesses in the system. Dow said these builds will use the 10,000 kilograms (22,000 pounds) of recycled shoe material that have been produced through the Singapore recycling project so far. Reuters had dropped those shoes into a Dow recycling bin at a Singapore community center in September, three months earlier. Recycling flopsThis is not the first novel recycling scheme launched by Dow that hasn’t lived up to its billing. In its Jan. 18 statement, Dow said the shoe recycling partners are “energized by the common vision of sport championing a greener and more sustainable Singapore.” Dow did not comment on the Journal of Consumer Psychology study.

☆ Premarket stocks: How oil and gas companies think about their shareholders
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-21 | by ( Nicole Goodkind | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

Two days later, a report found that the soaring energy prices could push 141 million people worldwide into extreme poverty. High prices have swelled profits for energy companies, leaving them flush with cash. Commitment to shareholders has certainly helped bolster stock prices — the S&P 500 ended 2022 down nearly 20%, while the energy sector grew by about 60%. And how do companies navigate appeasing shareholders who want immediate profit while also thinking about ways to invest in sustainable energy? GDP, inflation and retail earnings: What investors are watching this week▸ Investors have a busy week of new data readings ahead of them.

☆ Expect bigger dividends if Joe Biden's tax on stock buybacks increases, says PepsiCo's CFO
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( Brian Evans | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Dividends could be larger if a plan to boost taxes on stock buybacks becomes law, PepsiCo's CFO told CNBC. President Biden called for quadrupling the tax on buybacks during his State of the Union remarks Tuesday. That comes as oil companies and tech giants have approved massive repurchase plans. Biden also tied the criticism of buybacks specifically to big oil companies, which have earned massive profits amid the tight energy market. In December, Exxon Mobil announced plans to pay $50 billion in buybacks through 2024, after spending $15 billion on them in 2022.

☆ Big Oil doubles profits in blockbuster 2022
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( Ron Bousso | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

The profit surge gave the oil companies scope to increase spending on oil and gas projects, and a chance for some to rethink energy transition strategies to meet new demands for security of supply. The combined $219 billion in profits allowed BP (BP.L), Chevron (CVX.N), Equinor (EQNR.OL), Exxon Mobil (XOM.N), Shell (SHEL.L) and TotalEnergies (TTEF.PA) to shower shareholders with cash. Oil companies last year also pulled out of Russia, a major energy producer, leading to huge writedowns, including BP's $24 billion exit from its 19.75% stake in Kremlin-controlled oil giant Rosneft (ROSN.MM). Benchmark oil prices are currently near $85 a barrel. BP will lean more into oil & gas for the remainder of this decade," Clint said in a note.

☆ Four takeaways from Biden's State of the Union speech
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( Trevor Hunnicutt | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

While Democrats were quick to rise in applause, Republicans applauded only sporadically, and remained silent when Biden listed his administration's accomplishments. Several Republican lawmakers remained seated throughout. "Social Security and Medicare are a lifeline for millions of seniors. We will not cut Social Security!" Murphy, a Democratic ally of the president, called the speech "the best the president has ever been" and touted Biden's "metaphysical connection" to the viewing public.

☆ Three takeaways from Biden's State of the Union speech
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who once served as press secretary for Trump, rejected Biden's speech in a response prepared beforehand. "Social Security and Medicare are a lifeline for millions of seniors. ATTACK ON BIG COMPANIESBiden used a large segment of his ostensibly bipartisan pitch attacking corporations, from what he called "Big Pharma" to "Big Oil" and "Big Tech." Biden accused the pharmaceutical companies of charging too much for insulin but made no mention of their role in tamping down the COVID-19 pandemic. He accused tech companies of running a for-profit "experiment" on children, said oil companies were making too much money and made a case for higher taxes on billionaires.

☆ Premarket stocks: Here's what keeps Jerome Powell up at night and interest rates high
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( Nicole Goodkind | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Structural changes in the labor market: The US economy added an astonishing 517,000 jobs in January, blowing economists’ expectations out of the water. “The labor market is extraordinarily strong,” he said. Core services inflation: Powell noted that he’s seeing disinflation in the goods sector and expects to soon see declining inflation in housing. Service-sector inflation, which is more sensitive to a strong labor market, is up 7.5% from the year prior through the end of 2022, and has not abated, he said. Tech layoffs, Big Oil and soft landings: What investors are watching▸ The labor market is strong, but tech layoffs keep coming.

☆ Former BP CEO says it is right to tax windfall profits — so long as they are designed correctly
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailFormer BP CEO says it is right to tax windfall profits — so long as they are designed correctlyFormer BP CEO John Browne discusses growing calls for governments to impose higher taxes on Big Oil following record annual earnings. He says it is a balancing act for policymakers, adding that “the important thing about a windfall profit tax is if you put them on, you have to take them off.”

☆ Big Oil rakes in record profit haul of nearly $200 billion, fueling calls for higher taxes
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( Sam Meredith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Exxon Mobil's 2022 haul of $56 billion marked a historic high for the Western oil industry. Chicago Tribune | Tribune News Service | Getty ImagesThe West's five largest oil companies raked in combined profits of nearly $200 billion in 2022, intensifying calls for governments to impose tougher windfall taxes. Altogether, the five Big Oil companies reported combined profits of $196.3 billion last year, more than the economic output of most countries. His comments came shortly after Shell reported its highest-ever annual profit of nearly $40 billion, comfortably surpassing its previous record of $28.4 billion in 2008. watch nowThe CEO of Saudi Aramco, the world's largest energy company, has previously warned about the dangers of pressuring oil companies through higher taxes.

☆ Morning Bid: Powell confesses 'This time it's different'
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Any fear of a radical Fed rethink on the back of the jobs numbers seemed wide of the mark. "This cycle is different from other cycles...it has just confounded all sorts of attempts to predict," Powell admitted. And many think last week's jobs report should similarly be treated with care. They included a minimum tax for billionaires and a quadrupling of the tax on corporate stock buybacks. Brands, Eaton Corp, etcUS terminal rateReuters GraphicsReuters GraphicsReuters GraphicsBy Mike Dolan, Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky <a href="mailto:mike.dolan@thomsonreuters.com" target="_blank">mike.dolan@thomsonreuters.com</a>.

☆ Big Oil made $200 billion in profit last year. Shareholders won big, clean energy missed out
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( Hanna Ziady | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

But the flood of cash has not delivered a commensurate boom in renewable energy investments, despite clear evidence that the world needs to move much faster with efforts to address the climate crisis. The record-setting results mark a dramatic turnaround for a sector that suffered brutal losses and slashed shareholder payouts in 2020, when pandemic lockdowns sharply reduced demand for energy and oil prices collapsed. An aerial view of the BP oil refinery in Whiting, Indiana on August 29, 2019. Tannen Maury/EPA-EFE/ShutterstockJust three years ago, BP unveiled a plan to slash oil and gas production by 40% from 2019 levels by 2030. It is also now aiming to cut carbon emissions from its oil and gas production by 20%-30% by 2030, down from the previous goal of 35%-40%.

Search resuls for: "Big Oil"

25 mentions found