Veriten

This week we focus on the question “Can you trust the United Nations on energy and climate?” The question is sparked by a “climate change” warning label that YouTube placed on Super-Spiked Episode 37 “Goodbye Europe, Hello Rest of World” that discussed an updated #climatechange statement from Barclays, German de-industrialization, and our thoughts on the role of #US and #Canadian traditional energy. The warning label linked to a #UnitedNations website that highlighted what it described as “Facts” and “Myth Busters” on #climate #energy.

Today we had the honor of hosting former Senator Mary Landrieu of #Louisiana. Senator Landrieu served for three terms from 1997 to 2015 and chaired the U.S. Senate Committee on Energy & Natural Resources, the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council and the Homeland Security United States Senate Committee on Appropriations. She also served on the Armed Forces Committee. During her time in #Washington, Senator Landrieu gained a reputation for working across the aisle on important #energy and other #national priorities. Currently, Senator Landrieu is Co-Chair of Natural Allies for a Clean Energy Future, a coalition of stakeholders that recognize the vital role #naturalgas plays in the energy mix to meet #carbonreduction goals. We were thrilled to visit with Senator Landrieu.

Today we were thrilled to be joined by Sean Mcgarvey, President of North America's Building Trades Unions (NABTU), to discuss a critical topic: the nation’s #energy #workforce. Sean was elected to his position as President in 2012 and first started his building #trades career with the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades in 1981. In addition to his role at NABTU, Sean serves on several #private and #public sector boards and co-chairs labor-management committees of the API - American Petroleum Institute, Southern Company, and the Nuclear Power LMCC. NABTU represents over three million skilled craft professionals in the #US and #Canada and offers robust #apprenticeship and #training programs. We have been eager to discuss the future of the energy workforce for some time and appreciate Sean sharing his unique perspectives with us. https://lnkd.in/gDHaMak4

Today we were delighted to welcome back George Bilicic for an engaging discussion on the current #power and #energy landscape. George serves as Vice Chairman and Global Head of Power, Energy and Infrastructure at Lazard. In his long and distinguished career, George has over 20 years of experience at Lazard in the investment banking business with previous senior roles at Cravath, Merrill Lynch, KKR, and Sempra Energy. We last hosted George on COBT on May 2, 2023 and were excited to get him back to discuss how the world has changed in the past year, especially in power.

This week we honor America's upcoming 248th birthday on July 4th, when it declared #independence from the King of England, and take a moment to celebrate the country's incredible achievements in the #energy sector. As my friend and colleague Paul Dabbar eloquently wrote in a terrific Hoover Institute piece that we would encourage all Super-Spiked subscribers to read, #America is an energy superpower, a position we should lean into in coming years. Energy supply makes us as Americans and the Rest of the World richer. It betters human lives, to quote another friend Chris Wright, CEO of Liberty Energy. We have called this video American Energy Exceptionalism and it is a celebration of how #fortunate we are with our endowment of substantial #oil and #naturalgas resources, our world leading technology sector and culture of innovation and risk taking, and our leading capital markets and system of capitalism that underpins our national economic wealth. https://hubs.la/Q02DK7x50

Today we had the very exciting and interesting opportunity to visit with Russell Hagen, Senior Vice President and Chief Development Officer of Weyerhaeuser. Russell is responsible for Weyerhaeuser’s real estate, energy and natural resources businesses. Prior to his appointment as Chief Development Officer, Russell served as Chief Financial Officer from 2016 – 2021. Weyerhaeuser is the largest private owner of #timberlands in North America, with 10.5 million acres in the US and 14 million acres licensed in #Canada. In addition to timber products, Weyerhaeuser’s businesses include recreation, #realestate, #land and #minerals, #wood products, and #climatesolutions, including #renewableenergy development, forest #carbon and #CCS, and carbon #credits. We were thrilled to visit with Russell. https://lnkd.in/gP9ct_RC #COBT

The #macro backdrop is shifting from an obsessive focus on “energy transition” and the negative framing of energy usage that accompanies “the urgent climate crisis is all that matters” worldview to one where meeting growth in #global #energy #demand is regaining its rightful prominence. As a reminder, growth in energy usage means the world is becoming richer; it is one and the same with #economic growth and higher #employment; it is people being lifted out of #poverty; it is lower- and middle-income people seeing improving lifestyles; it is the rich world enjoying their existing #wealth. It is consistent with cleaner air and cleaner water, though not always with protecting biodiversity. #Geopolitical imperatives in major #developing world countries will drive long-term progress on new energy sources and #technologies that by definition will be lower #carbon in nature. https://hubs.la/Q02CRP-c0

Today we had the honor of hosting Reginald DesRoches, President of Rice University, in Veriten’s offices at the Ion. Reggie assumed the role of President in July 2022, after previously serving as Rice’s #Provost and the #Dean of the #Engineering School. Additionally, Reggie serves as a #professor of #civil and #environmental engineering, and as a professor of #mechanical engineering. Before his tenure at Rice, Reggie was Chair of the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology (CEEatGT) in Atlanta.

We turn back to our favorite topic and that is profitability and the goal of generating superior long-term share price performance. We spend a lot of time discussing #ROCE, #CROCI, and free cash flow. This week we wanted to talk about long-term #stock #buyback as one way to add per share growth to the equation and to highlight how buybacks plus #M&A have contributed to significant outperformance from Murphy USA, the 2013 retail spin off from E&P parent Murphy Oil, which is in the very mature business of gas station and convenience store retailing. We also note the outperformance by the Big-3 US #downstream companies versus the Majors, E&Ps, and the S&P 500. https://hubs.la/Q02BPnZg0

Today we were thrilled to welcome back Dr. Francisco J. Monaldi, Director of the Latin America Energy Program, along with his colleague Dr. Tony Payan, Director of the Center for the U.S. and Mexico, with Rice University's Baker Institute for Public Policy. Francisco last joined us on #COBT in December 2022 and is an expert on Latin American #energy, #policy, and #economics. In addition to his role at the Baker Institute, Tony is a Professor of Social Sciences at the Universidad Autónoma de Ciudad Juárez and his research focuses primarily on border studies and US-Mexico relations. It was our pleasure to visit with Francisco and Tony for a Mexico and #LatinAmerica energy and #geopolitics focused discussion.