By Sam Hopkins. Friday, May 9, 2008
“I think instead of taxing income and profits,” said my colleague and Profit from the Peak co-author Chris Nelder this week on the Fox Business channel, “We ought to be looking at ways to incentivize the fuels of the future.”
In a three-way interview with host Neil Cavuto, Chris and environmental analyst Yusef Robb gave their take on what to do with petroleum profits that Robb called “obscene.”
If you haven’t seen the interview yet, check it out on YouTube:
As one of the minds behind Profit from the Peak, Chris is more concerned with building up than tearing down. He’s really got the Peak Oil scenario covered from every angle, and the overlap with Green Chip Stocks is clear when it comes to the transitional energy economy.
Cavuto clearly had issues with Robb in the TV clip, and probably would’ve preferred more insights from Chris. Why?
Because it’s pure logic. Logic might also explain why Europe is beating America to the punch in moving things forward.
Oil companies like Norwegian operator StatoilHydro (NYSE:STO), Royal Dutch Shell (NYSE:RDS.A), and others have been probing North Sea fields for decades, and now those traps are in irreversible decline since a 1999 peak.
When I ventured to the area in 2006, I was there to check out transitional energy opportunities being exploited by Canadian firm Talisman Energy (NYSE:TLM).
Along with Scottish and Southern Energy and Norwegian deepwater engineering legend Gunnar Foss, Talisman hooked up an aging oil rig to wind turbines, piloting a wind farm project with huge job and energy-creating potential.
Not only did project bosses I spoke to see the potential for wind energy to augment oil infrastructure, they knew that deepwater wind absolutely had to have the big-time financing and experience of companies like Talisman and brains like Foss to move forward.
That’s the kind of resource allocation Chris Nelder’s talking about, stimulating new energy from the relics of the old.
But as you probably know, energy progress can be undone. We’re seeing that right now in one major U.K. project…
Shell Wind Energy Out… E.ON In
We were disappointed to read in the British press that Shell is pulling out of the London Array wind power project in England, which would supply household power for a quarter of Greater London homes if and when it is completed.
Shell wants to unload its 33% stake, but Germany’s E.ON (OTC:EONGY) is sticking with it.
That angers British politicians like Environment Secretary Hilary Benn, who called Shell’s withdrawal “very disappointing.”
Oh and guess what? Shell, the biggest European energy company in market cap terms, crushed analyst estimates for first-quarter earnings by about a billion dollars…
Even though production only increased by 1 percent!
Those who think oil, or ethanol, or wind, is the only answer to our energy woes… should think again.
Instead, focusing on a proper mix of forward-looking energy supply, government direction and market forces will combine to keep us away from catastrophe. Shell, BP, and others will ensure their long term health by using windfall oil profits to pad against major supply drops.
And investors who play renewable stocks while keeping an eye on forward-thinking oil companies will remain in the green.