Good morning, here's what the Oilman has for you today:

• BlackRock Dials Back Support for Climate Issues

• Gas Saves the Day. Again.

• Upcoming Oil and Gas Events

• Tweet of the Day

BlackRock Dials Back Support for Climate Issues

BlackRock has significantly reduced its support for climate and social proposals from shareholders.

Over the 12 months to June, support for these fell from 22% to just 7%.

The great BlackRock awakening

Per the asset manager, many proposals on social and climate issues had become unpalatable.

In a report, BlackRock called them “unduly prescriptive” and attempts at “micromanagement.”

We all know how lousy it feels to be micromanaged, right?

Here’s how the global head of investment stewardship put it:

“Because so many proposals were over-reaching, lacking economic merit or simply redundant, they were unlikely to help promote long-term shareholder value and received less support.”

Well, well, well.

This is from the company that is pushing net zero like the Holy Grail.

I wonder if this might have something to do with some states’ backlash against ESG investing.

Remember when Texas straight-out accused BlackRock and friends of discriminating against oil and gas?

Remember how quick BlackRock and friends were to say that no, they were not discriminating at all, no, sir.

They liked oil and gas just fine, they said.

It’s not just BlackRock

BlackRock was not the only place where support for E&S proposals declined substantially.

In fact, industry-wide support for these fell from 25% to 15% in the 12 months to June.

Part of the reason is the conservative states’ pushback against ESG investing.

But there may be another part.

The part where investment in oil and gas makes money.

And investment in energy transition doesn’t really make money, let alone more money than oil and gas.

Not with the kind of cost inflation these industries are dealing with.

Nobody could’ve seen this coming.

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Gas Saves the Day. Again.

Gas-powered generation in the U.S. was 10% higher in the first eight months of the year than a year ago.

Wind and solar output, on the other hand, was flat in 2022.

A gassy grid

That’s how Reuters columnist Gavin Maguire called it.

The grid may be gassy, but it is also reliable.

If gas wasn’t around to meet demand, we all know what would’ve happened.

This makes calls for the death of gas-powered generation all the weirder.

Especially if you know that gas accounts for some 40% of total generation between January and August.

40% is a lot. It’s 10% shy of half. Imagine shutting all this down to give way to wind and solar.

Yeah, it’s not happening.

Per the Reuters report, every utility in the United States increased its gas-fired output over the last eight months.

All of them.

I wonder why.

A snapshot of the future

Texas is the state with the most wind and solar power capacity.

Texas is also the state that got 43.4% of its power from gas-fired plants.

Texas also saw some prolonged periods of low wind speed compromise electricity generation.

Which happens every year.

So, the future looks very much like the present when it comes to energy.

Unless the federal government gets its way with the new proposed emissions standards.

These would make not just coal but gas generation a lot more expensive.

And plant operators would have to shut down.

That would be a much less nice future.

Upcoming Oil & Gas Events

• August 23-25: Rockies Petroleum Conference, Marian H Rochelle Gateway Center, Laramie WY PAW

• August 28: SOOGA Fall Golf Outing, Oxbow Gold Course, Belpre OH

• August 28-September 1: International Meeting for Applied Geoscience and Energy Houston TX

• August 31: ND Oil PAC Golf Tournament Bully Pulpit Golf Course, Medora ND

Around the Global Patch

🌍 European gas prices fall amid easing Australian LNG risk.
🇨🇳 Largest miner worried about Chinese growth.
🇷🇺 Gazprom neft: profits dive 43%.

Tweet of the Day

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