Baker Institute’s Medlock available to discuss the market implications of major oil company earnings reports

EXPERT ALERT

David Ruth
713-348-6327
david@rice.edu

Jeff Falk
713-348-6775
jfalk@rice.edu  

Baker Institute’s Medlock available to discuss the market implications of major oil company earnings reports

HOUSTON — (Feb. 1, 2018) — Three of the world’s largest publicly traded oil companies and major Texas employers — Exxon Mobil, Chevron and Shell — are announcing their fourth-quarter 2017 earnings this week. Kenneth Medlock, senior director of the Center for Energy Studies at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy, is available to discuss what to watch for as earnings are released.

Credit: 123RF.com/Rice University

“2017 was a year of significant rationalization across the upstream oil and gas sector as companies cut costs, eliminated redundancies and refocused efforts to raise productivity to improve profitability,” Medlock said. “But the thing to watch in fourth-quarter earnings releases is not just profits. One should also pay close attention to any indications of how and where capital spending will be allocated. It is highly likely that we will see an emphasis on U.S. opportunities, particularly given recent tax changes, as well as other regions where reforms are occurring and new discoveries have been recently announced. In all, this will likely amount to a tilt toward the Western Hemisphere.”

Medlock is the James A. Baker III and Susan G. Baker Fellow in Energy and Resource Economics at the Baker Institute. He is a principal in the development of the Rice World Natural Gas Trade Model, which is aimed at assessing the future of international natural gas trade. He has published numerous scholarly articles about his primary areas of interest: natural gas markets, energy commodity price relationships, gasoline markets, transportation, national oil company behavior, economic development and energy demand, and energy use and the environment.

To schedule an interview with Medlock, contact Jeff Falk, associate director of national media relations at Rice, at jfalk@rice.edu or 713-348-6775. The Baker Institute has a radio and television studio available.

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Related materials:

Medlock bio: http://bakerinstitute.org/experts/kenneth-b-medlock-iii.

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Follow the Center for Energy Studies via Twitter @CES_Baker_Inst.

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Founded in 1993, Rice University’s Baker Institute ranks among the top three university-affiliated think tanks in the world. As a premier nonpartisan think tank, the institute conducts research on domestic and foreign policy issues with the goal of bridging the gap between the theory and practice of public policy. The institute’s strong track record of achievement reflects the work of its endowed fellows, Rice University faculty scholars and staff, coupled with its outreach to the Rice student body through fellow-taught classes — including a public policy course — and student leadership and internship programs. Learn more about the institute at www.bakerinstitute.org or on the institute’s blog, http://blogs.chron.com/bakerblog.