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• SUV Sales Keep Oil Demand High: IEA

• Conoco-Marathon Deal Pushes Sector Consolidation F …

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SUV Sales Keep Oil Demand High: IEA

The International Energy Agency has issued its latest complaint.

People are buying too many SUVs and these are keeping oil demand high.

And emissions, too, of course.

If SUVs were a country…

“If SUVs were a country, they would be the world’s fifth-largest emitter of CO2,” the IEA said.

Why it felt compelled to compare SUVs to a country is unclear, but it sounds impressive and scary.

But not scary enough to push people away from SUVs.

Last year, these represented 48% of all new car sales—a record high.

This was up from 41.4% of all new car sales in 2022 and just 20.58% in 2013.

People really like SUVs.

And I bet they don’t care that SUVs, per the IEA, contributed a fifth of global CO2 emissions in 2023.

By the way, electric SUVs are coming in larger numbers.

It’s arguable how good of a solution to the emission problem this is, but they are coming.

Because people love SUVs.

To date, electric SUVs represent a whopping… 5% of all SUVs on global roads.

Giving up comforts as a futile strategy

SUVs provide greater comfort than small cars.

As a result, they are more expensive.

But those who can afford them most often do afford them.

The transition is not a priority for most people.

So, no matter how loudly the IEA laments SUV sales, these are not going down by themselves.

People won’t just switch to a tiny EV Volkswagen from an Atlas SUV.

But hey, make them all unaffordable and it will happen.

Conoco-Marathon Deal Pushes Sector Consolidation Further

ConocoPhillips last week struck a deal to acquire Marathon Oil for $22.5 billion.

It beat Devon Energy for the company – so now Devon will be looking for targets.

“Shale 2.0” is in progress

This is what Conoco’s Ryan Lance called the consolidation push.

“We think we’re heading into a period of what I’d call kind of shale 2.0,” Lance said.

The deal with Marathon will expand Conoco’s holdings in the shale patch.

It will also likely encourage others to look for acquisition opportunities.

Already there’s news that an oil investment firm is looking for buyers for its Permian unit.

The deal for Double Eagle Energy Holdings could fetch over $6.5 billion.

There will be buyers.

Because everyone is looking for more acreage.

And acquisitions have become the primary way to secure it.

Anti-oil legislators descending in three, two, one…

It’s a miracle that Chuck Schumer and friends didn’t pounce on Conoco the day the deal was announced.

But pounce they will because consolidation in oil and gas is a major trigger to them.

So far, they haven’t had any luck stopping the megadeals of Exxon and Chevron.

That’s encouraging for the Conoco deal.

Yet you never know what regulators might decide to find out.

I mean, look at Pioneer’s CEO and the accusations of OPEC collusion.

It didn’t stop the takeover, though; it just smeared the man.

It also signaled the federal government is ready and willing to find ways to undermine the consolidation of the sector.

They’re probably worried about merger-related emissions.

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