HOUSTON (Reuters) – The world’s largest oil companies are pumping more natural gas than ever before, helping to spur a rise in profits while sating rising global demand for fuels that can mitigate global greenhouse gas emissions.
This marks a shift over the past decade for an industry that once focused predominantly on crude oil, with gas in most cases an after-thought. Now, the rise of gas-powered electric generation, surging production from US shale fields and the burgeoning liquefied natural gas (LNG) industry that makes shipping the fuel possible, have conspired to create a boom.
BP Plc (BP.L), Exxon Mobil Corp (XOM.N), Royal Dutch Shell Plc (RDSa.L), Total SA (TOTF.PA) and Chevron Corp (CVX.N) have collectively increased natural gas output 15 percent in the past decade thanks to better technology and lower costs, according to data from Wood Mackenzie energy consultancy.
Analysts expect all to post double-digit increases in second-quarter profit in coming days, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
“LNG is the growth commodity for these companies,” said Brian Youngberg, an energy industry analyst with Edward Jones, who expects the global LNG industry to grow at least 4 percent annually for the next five years.
At Total, gas is actually 61 percent of output, up from 47 percent as recently as 10 years ago, according to WoodMac.
Total is expected by analysts to post a 44 percent jump in second-quarter profit on Thursday to $3.56 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
Even as gas production has risen, so too have reserves of natural gas. International energy companies saw gas reserves jump 16 percent last year to 35.33 billion cubic feet, according to a study by the EY consultancy.
“There are investments and capital expenditures being made to increase the level of gas reserves, and that should only continue,” said Herb Listen, an EY energy analyst.
Exxon, for its part, sees natural gas usage growing at the fastest rate of any energy type out through 2040, reaching a quarter of global demand by that time.
“Worries about energy supplies have faded away, erased in large part by natural gas,” Exxon chief executive Darren Woods told the World Gas Conference last month in Washington, D.C.
Exxon is expected by analysts to post a 62 percent increase in quarterly profit to $5.45 billion on Friday, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
Gas does have limitations. It’s harder to transport than crude oil, which can be stored indefinitely in tanks, and it must be processed right away, boosting costs.
But greenhouse emissions from gas are far less than coal or oil when it is burned, boosting its appeal for a sector eager to combat allegations that it is the primary cause of anthropogenic climate change.
