Energy Sector Uncertainty: Signal or Noise?
At a Crossroads
In an uncertain geopolitical environment, how can energy and resources firms decipher signal from noise? By Paul Chapman, Executive Director of Enco Insights.
The energy and resources sector sits at the heart of global trade. The sector, as we know it, developed in a period of unprecedented globalisation, ever more free trade (in expertise and products) and a non-inflationary environment. Today, that is being dramatically upended.
The energy transition - which itself brings great uncertainty in technology and policy - is now taking on the mantle of national security. And this reformulation has only just begun. Europe and the US have been competing for critical mineral supply chains consequent of the full realisation of China's dominance - especially in processing. At the same time, the West's nascent ecosystem has faltered with a slew of bankruptcies in the wake of high interest rates and weakened corporate commitments. If security is now the driver, surely more direct government intervention is on the way - with the attendant distortions.
How to navigate that?
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Uncertain Geopolitics
Then we add in a resurgent trade war, triggered by the Trump administration. Tariffs are announced, changed, rolled-back and enacted, at a head-spinning pace. Furthermore, the global trade landscape has to cope with a fast-changing geopolitical landscape. Consider the possibility of US sanctions being rolled back on Russia in Q2. Could Iranian Oil be completely cut-off by a maximalist US strategy? Parsing what is signal versus noise in this environment is crucial to avoiding paralysis.
All the while, technology - particularly AI – is increasingly challenging and changing the competitive landscape within the sector.
“Parsing what is signal versus noise in this environment is crucial to avoiding paralysis.”
Need for Expertise
All this heightens the need for the energy and resources world to become more nimble and flexible in global markets (hence we are seeing most physical players of size develop trading capabilities); as well as more connected to policy and policy makers; and hedged in technologies.
Enco Insights was launched to help companies access the rare, high value expertise to help navigate, advise, invest and deliver in this increasingly complex energy and resources sector - where historical providers or existing networks have faltered.
The need for that expertise has now been extraordinarily amplified, and is essential for understanding what is signal and what is noise. Likewise, so has the need to understand which experts and advisors have the necessary insights to lean on when the stakes are so high.
Your Partner to Navigate Uncertainty
Enco Insights leverages our sister companies’ decades of building networks (HC Group in energy and commodities; Hyperion Search in renewables and CleanTech). We help organisations navigate and capitalise on the changes, challenges - and opportunities - ahead.
Learn more about how we can help.
