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

• Horror in EV World: Consumer Love Fades

• Shale Investment Lags Oil Demand

• Tweet of the Day

Horror in EV World: Consumer Love Fades

A J.D. Power survey has found that U.S. consumers are losing interest in EVs.

As if the industry didn’t already have enough troubles.

It’s the first time sentiment has soured since 2021, the surveyors said.

Zero problems solved

The reasons that consumers are growing cold toward EVs are still the same.

The lack of chargers and price are two. Range anxiety is the third.

The survey results mean that the EV industry has done nothing to address these problems.

Despite the buildout of charging networks.

They’re still not enough.

And there’s been no progress on affordability, either.

Despite billions in subsidies.

But guess what? Consumers don’t know enough about these subsidies.

At least, according to J.D. Power.

Sure, blame it on cluelessness.

And not on the fact that even with subsidies, EVs are more expensive than gas cars.

The EV revolution is beyond repair

“The lack of affordable EV models is affecting the two youngest buyer cohorts, Gen Z and Gen Y,” J.D. Power said.

That’s ironic because these generations have the biggest fans of EV among them.

But they can’t afford EVs because many life’s already too expensive…

Thanks to the EV fans in government.

So, it doesn’t really matter that 32% of Millennials are “very likely” to buy an EV in the future.

They won’t buy it. Not until they can do that without going hungry for a year.

Gen Z is even worse, with just a quarter “very likely” to become EV owners.

Carmakers better get used to those losses they’re posting on every EV they sell.

Or, you know, switch to making cars that sell at a profit.

Shale Investment Lags Oil Demand

Investments in shale oil are insufficient to cover future demand.

The revelation comes from private equity firm Quantum Capital Group.

It says this imbalance in investments could jeopardize supply security.

So, what else is new?

OPEC’s been banging the drum of underinvestment for years.

Shale used to be more attractive, but now this is changing.

Money’s flowing into the transition, Quantum says, and there’s less left for shale.

The even worse news is that private equity money for shale is shrinking.

The industry used to be a magnet for private equity funds.

They even stepped in to replace some banks.

But this seems to be changing now.

Even though shale companies have prioritized shareholder returns.

That doesn’t bode well for supply.

No wonder oilfield service majors are warning of a slowdown in shale activity this year.

The silver lining

Shortsightedness in investor circles never goes unpunished.

If oil supply shrinks because of underinvestment, prices will rise.

So will investor returns for the smart ones who stayed.

It won’t be long before those who pulled out come back.

That’s exactly what happened with Big Oil.

One year of record profits and suddenly everyone loved oil again.

And that’s despite the boom in so-called clean energy investments.

Spending on shale this year is seen at $170 billion.

That’s 33% below the peak from 2014, per JP Morgan.

It will take a while to reverse this, but it’s not impossible.

Demand will point the way, as it always does.

Tweet of the Day

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