07AUG2019 - NEWS - How big oil’s bet on gas turned sour: Fuel for Thought

 Europe’s largest oil companies shared a common theme in their second-quarter financial reports: Shell, Total and BP all blamed tepid gas markets partly for their lackluster earnings. Hyped as the fuel of the future, LNG has become an increasingly tricky commodity for the industry to manage. This could be because of three powerful economic forces now converging and complicating the outlook for the fuel. Firstly, producers continue to invest billions of dollars into building new LNG projects, despite a growing glut of supply. Secondly, climate change is prompting some consumers, perhaps for the first time, to question the fuel’s long-term green credentials. Finally, the weakness of the global economy and increasingly unpredictable weather cycles are making fundamental drivers for seasonal demand even harder to forecast. Despite, all these concerns, Shell – Europe’s biggest producer of LNG – is convinced its multibillion-dollar bets on the fuel’s future will pay off for investors in the long term.