Trefis Energy Sector Weekly Notes
Oil and gas majors saw their shares slide this week with a fall in crude oil prices as macroeconomic concerns persisted. We covered the growing demand for LNG from Asian countries and some developments in the shale exploration industry this week. Below we highlight some notes from this week on companies like Exxon (NYSE:XOM), First Solar (NASDAQ:FSLR) and Anadarko (NYSE:APC).
Abundant US Natural Gas Supply Slakes Asian Demand: In contrast to low prices in the U.S., strong growth in liquefied natural gas (LNG) demand from China, Japan and India is resulting in prices for liquefied gas rising despite macroeconomic concerns. Analysts expect exports from the U.S. to meet international demand over the long term.
Exxon Expands in Utica Shale, Faces Legal Hazzles in Pennsylvania: Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) announced this Thursday that it was purchasing leases in Ohio’s Utica Shale from landowners in the region in what is the oil major’s first foray into the crude oil rich basin. Exxon has expanded its interest in Shale plays across the U.S. since its $30 billion purchase of XTO Energy last year which it followed up with two more private purchases in 2011. However its large presence in the Marcellus shale basin could be the cause of extended legal problems as a recent ruling in a Pennsylvania appeals court has caused concern over the ownership of the shale gas found in the region.
- Down 6% This Year, What’s Happening With First Solar Stock?
- Down 17% In The Last Six Months, Will First Solar Stock Recover Post Q4 Results?
- Up A Mere 15% In 2023, Is First Solar Stock Poised To Do Better In 2024?
- Down 30% From Highs Seen In May 2023, Where Is First Solar Stock Headed?
- Why Is The Hydrogen Theme Underperforming This Year?
- Why This Renewables Theme Is Underperforming In A Strong Market
In the Solar Sector we took a look at some of the developments reported by First Solar as the company’s stock took a hit with the Solyndra bankruptcy.
First Solar Targets Cost Reductions to Fend off Chinese Competition: First Solar (NASDAQ:FSLR) announced that it would implement around a dozen improvements to improve the efficiency of its modules and drive down costs over the coming years to ward off competition from low cost Chinese firms. First Solar, which already has the lowest cost of manufacturing per watt because of its thin film technology, hopes that it will boost the efficiency of its cells to 15% in the coming years from the current average of 11.7 % in the last quarter with these improvements.
We are currently revisiting our price estimates for companies in the solar sector in light of recent events and changes in demand.