1. Home
  2. Research
  3. The Edge
Commodities trading and spreads

The Edge

Weekly insights from our chairman and chief analyst, Simon Flowers, on the issues shaping your industry

 

Meet our Chief Analyst

Welcome to the Edge, the exclusive column from our Chairman & Chief Analyst, Simon Flowers. Drawing on the expertise, intelligence, deep insight and data from across the business, Simon gives his views on the subjects driving debate and shaping our markets.

View Simon's full profile

Latest Post

What should the E&P sector do with a wall of cash?

The biggest lottery prize of 2018? A contender is the windfall oil and gas companies find drops into their bank account.

Recent Posts

Exploration gets its mojo back

Exploration is staging a remarkable turnaround in its fortunes, with a string of big discoveries in recent months. Many of these look to be potentially commercial, a sign that the industry can still create value.

Unlocking investment for deepwater projects

Not long ago, West Africa was at the top of the list for international E&P companies looking for high-impact growth.

Upstream M&A and oil price uncertainty

Will this latest bull run in oil prices trigger a new phase of upstream M&A? The sector is feeling emboldened again – a confidence that’s justified up to a point.

Venezuela’s slump, Iran sanctions, oil prices

Global oil supply will break through the 100 million b/d mark for the first time later this year. Producers the world over, through innovation and risk-taking, have invariably contrived to meet the unstoppable train that is demand growth.

Maximising upstream value in the long term

Life’s good again in the upstream sector. All the hard work through the downturn is paying dividends, literally. Brent over US$70/bbl means everyone is in the money given the sector’s cash flow breakeven of US$53/bbl.

The Edge: Downstream’s role in the energy transition

How to stay relevant? Every oil and gas company is pondering the energy transition, and how to adapt a business model that’s served well for the last century to be fit-for-purpose through the 21st and beyond.

Why the Permian is set for a shakeout

The best accessible upstream growth opportunity in fifty years? US tight oil. Correction: the Permian Basin. Second correction: the Wolfcamp formation spread across the Delaware and Midland sub-basins.

Lessons in attracting upstream investment capital

Not long ago, Egypt’s gas industry was in crisis. Production fell by a third in the three years to 2015. A top ten LNG exporter in the prior decade, the country had, by then, become a top ten importer.

OPEC and how low prices have changed oil demand

How to sum up the effect on oil markets of OPEC’s strategy since 2014? Based on how the fundamentals have evolved, it's been a pretty mixed bag.