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

• Pioneer's CEO Says ‘Peace Out’

• Enough With the Climate Activist Investors

• Tweet of the Day

Peace out ✌️ From Pioneer’s CEO

Scott Sheffield, the chief executive of the top shale oil producer in the U.S., Pioneer Natural Resources, will retire at the end of the year.

The news is bound to fuel more talk about a possible takeover of the company.

The end of an era

Sheffield led Pioneer for more than three decades before retiring in 2016.

Three years later, he returned to complete the company’s transformation into the biggest shale player by boosting output and expanding through acquisitions.

Everyone deserves a break after all those accomplishments.

But the news – which came on the day Pioneer reported better-than-expected first-quarter results – is bound to feed talk that the company is up for grabs.

The seed was planted by WSJ earlier this month when it reported Exxon was in informal talks to take over Pioneer.

No one had confirmed or rejected the report, which is enough to keep the rumor mill going.

Consolidation like no other

Pretty much everyone expects the consolidation in the shale patch to continue and even intensify.

The big guys like Exxon and Chevron have plenty of cash for acquisitions after record 2022.

They are also looking to optimize their shale presence amid warnings from people (like Scott Sheffield) that the boom is over and will never be repeated again.

Here’s what one Jefferies analyst told Bloomberg this week:

“The world needs more US oil, and the Permian has several thousand locations remaining that are viewed as high quality,” Pete Bowden said.

“If you’re a major oil company, you have to think about getting that supply while it’s available.”

As far as tasty morsels go in this context, Pioneer has got to be one of the tastiest yet.

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Enough With the Climate Activist Investors

Exxon, BP, and other oil majors face renewed shareholder pressure on climate commitments this week as the Q1 reporting season goes into full swing.

Stranded asset risks (a bunch of malarkey) and anger (feigned) over climate target revisions are among the highlights in shareholder resolution proposals.

It’s our way or the highway

This seems to be the message of activist shareholder groups such as Follow This.

The Dutch group is furious with BP’s decision to slow down its self-described transformation into a low-carbon energy company.

It demands that the supermajor return to its ambitious transition goals.

Remember why BP went back on those?

It was because returns from its really ambitious low-carbon investments turned out to be worse than expected.

For Exxon, the focus will be on its disclosure of potentially stranded assets resulting from the energy transition.

Some people really like to wave the “stranded asset” scarecrow in the air, don’t they?

Even Australian Woodside has not been spared this profit season.

Apparently, its 2022 climate plan was too similar to its 2021 plan, and that’s unacceptable because 49% voted against the 2021 plan.

There’s no making some people happy.

Meanwhile, in the realm of reality…

Last year, Exxon and Chevron shareholders overwhelmingly rejected climate resolutions put forward by their more climate-conscious peers.

Thank God.

This month, Norway’s oil fund said it will vote against the resolution demanding that BP set more ambitious emission targets.

That’s right, Norway’s oil fund, the biggest sovereign wealth fund in the world that’s also very climate-conscious, is not voting for the tougher targets.

I have a creeping suspicion shareholders are close to having enough of shareholder activism.

Around the Global Patch

🇮🇳 India's makes a push for renewable energy.
🇪🇺 EU coal use might drop this winter, reports think tank. Oh, okay…
🇷🇺 Russia caught red-handed: promised oil cuts exposed as false.

Tweet of the Day

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