HyperScalers vs Big Oils Capex Intensity

By Paul Sankey Published on October 28, 2025 at 2:23 PM

Torsten Slok, Chief Economist Apollo, published this chart Monday, we are all familiar with the theme. Source: Torsten Slok, Apollo Considering the scale “Capex Share of Operating Cashflow %” made me wonder, and caused me to recreate the chart but add the Big Oils. Given Torsten lists five Hyperscalers, I simply used five historic mega-oils, ExxonMobil, Chevron, Shell, TOTAL, and BP. Result: Source: Bloomberg, Sankey Research That certainly changes the perspective, and obviously becomes a …

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Sunday: Letter to a Mid-Cap US Oil CEO

By Paul Sankey Published on September 21, 2025 at 5:46 PM

The world seeming began to turn with a couple of comments I was making last week “Why is China storing so much oil?” that was originally included in last week’s note on global LNG over-supply, but was then saved for this week. Sure enough, Javier Blas went after the question directly in a column on Wednesday: “Why is China Stockpiling So Much Surplus Oil?” Adding to the Zeitgeist shift on oil – Peak Oil Supply …

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Qatar, the Coming LNG Tsunami, and the Paradox of US LNG Gas Pricing

By Paul Sankey Published on September 14, 2025 at 7:35 PM

Refining margins are doing well as we enter the bearish period for oil prices, with Russian refining and sanctions impact visible in Middle East oil prices vs Atlantic Basin (Brent-Dubai spread) and tanker rates (soaring). Phone a friend… I asked shipping guru (former Morgan Stanley #1 ranked tanker and oilfield service analyst) Ole Slorer why tanker rates are soaring? “OPEC” he replied, keeping it simple. More barrels getting sucked into Asia, particularly, it would seem, …

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