Union Pacific Sees US Economic Growth; Cites Several Uncertainties

The overall theme of strong US economic growth in 2015 continues with Union Pacific (NYSE: UNP) forecasting strength in several key domestic arenas.  With 31,838 route miles providing rail access to and from both the Pacific Coast and the Gulf Coast shipping ports, this 150 year old railroad corporation has the inside track on a wide range of industrial and consumer goods being transported around the nation.  What they are forecasting for 2015 is very promising on the domestic front.

Agricultural demand looks strong in the US, although there's oversupply internationally so demand for US agricultural products overseas looks weak.  There is also some short-term weakness evident in demand for ethanol - which will impact demand for corn - however with plunging gas prices in the US, demand for ethanol is forecast to increase as we head towards higher demand for gasoline through the first half of this year.

For those interested in the automotive sector, the news on that front continues to be positive.  UNP saw continued strength in consumer demand for both finished products (i.e. new cars) as well as increased demand for automotive parts.  They see this trend as continuing into the 2015.  Seasonally adjusted, shipments of new cars in the 4th quarter increased by over one million vehicles.  Shipments of parts also saw a 2% increase in the 4th quarter. 

On the energy front, strong demand for coal continues to be forecast.  Inventories are currently low, and UNP expects strong demand to replenish those supplies.  The price of natural gas, however, could put pressure on demand for coal since a lower natural gas price will decrease the demand for coal across the nation.  While UNP has yet to see this impact in their shipment orders, they have called this out as a concern for their coal segment in 2015.

The price of crude oil is already having an impact on shipments, and that's expected to continue into 2015.  Volumes in the Bakken fields are down significantly already, and as long as crude prices stay below $75 to $80 per barrel, declines there will escalate.  The Uinta Basin and Niobrara Basin have increased shipment volumes, however I'd be concerned about Niobrara maintaining that trend.  The Uinta Basin produces traditional natural gas and oil, and is increasing overall production while decreasing the number of rigs, primarily through horizontal drilling.  The increased volume per rig is currently able to offset the impact of decreased margins, although if prices remain low, that will not be enough to sustain profitability.  The Niobrara Basin, however, has a very high exposure to margin risks associated with shale extraction - the most expensive of the oil production methods in use today.  Low oil prices will cripple production in this basin.  This will also have an impact on UNP's shipment of frac sand which accounted for 35% of their 28% increase in non-metallic minerals volume in 2014.

Switching to the construction industry, UNP is seeing sustained growth in the shipment of construction materials and they expect that to continue into 2015.  This growth is in both residential and non-residential building materials, and it's also being seen in lumber shipments. 

Intermodal shipments continue to grow domestically as well.  This is of interest since intermodal shipments transcend the various transport providers including trucking, rail, and shipping.  There's weakness being felt in imports, however, due to the long-running labor dispute in the west coast ports.  A much-hoped-for deal in mid-2014 didn't manifest, and the impact is being felt along the coast.

UNP reported strong demand for imported beer in 2014, and they forecast increased demand in 2015.  I'm not sure if there's a trading opportunity here, but in the interest of full disclosure, I will state that I'm doing my part to ensure demand remains high.


UNP did cite several uncertainties in their 2015 forecast, but by now they are uncertainties of which we are all aware:

• Crude oil prices will impact multiple industries, especially if they remain this low for any length of time.
• Global economies are softening, primarily in Europe, Japan, and Russia.  China's growth has slowed, (although it's projected to be close to 7% in 2015, so that's still a significant amount of demand.)
• The west coast labor dispute will continue to add import pressures.

Based on UNP's assessment of shipment volume projections in 2015, keeping an eye on the automotive industry and the construction industry should provide some interesting trading opportunities.  On the speculative side, it's worth keeping an eye on the interaction between coal and natural gas demand as the energy price dynamic plays out through the first half of the year.

Schlumberger Hints at Global Growth, Oil Pressures in 2015

Schlumberger Limited's (NYSE: SLB) earnings conference call yesterday provided some interesting insight into the global growth potential for 2015 as well as a detailed view of the changing dynamics we are witnessing within the oil industry.  For those not familiar with this global company, Schlumberger provides technology, project management, and information solutions to global oil and gas exploration and production (E&P) corporations.  Their clients operate in over 80 countries, giving them a unique view into the health of the economy both domestic and global.

Despite currency weakening both in Russia and Europe, Schlumberger foresees healthy growth in the global economy, surpassing the growth seen in 2014.  They see demand for oil increasing by about one million barrels per day by 2016.  This is matched by the one million barrels per day increase being supplied by the global oil market.

The dramatic drop in prices that we've seen is primarily being driven by a significant increase in supply coming out of North America and Saudi Arabia.  Globally, Saudi Arabia has shifted their strategy from one in which they sought to protect the price of oil via a manipulation of the supply to one in which they seek to protect their market share via an increase in supply regardless of the impact on price.  It's a fundamental shift in philosophy, and it's one to which the rest of the world has yet to fully react.

The impact of this strategy shift and resulting price drop is already being felt.  Exploration and Production (E&P) are down significantly, and are projected to drop by 25% to 30% in the US next year, coupled with a 10% to 15% drop globally.  Already, some 400 oil rigs have been taken offline, due to profitability issues relative to the new oil price point.

Hydraulic Fracturing technologies in the US and Canada have made a significant contribution to the oversupply of oil coming out of North America.  In the realm of cost, however, this technology is one of the highest - much higher than the cost of traditional oil wells that have both a lower start-up cost and a longer life span per site.  (Production from fraked sites declines 45% per year as compared to 5% per year from traditional wells.)  The Arabian oil companies have the lowest production costs and can therefore ride out this wave of low prices to the detriment of all competitors. The break-even point on some Arabian wells is a mere $10 per barrel.  Average break-even in the Gulf-States is $27 per barrel.  US Shale, on the other hand, has a break-even point optimistically at $50 per barrel, and some of the newer sites are even in the $80 per barrel range.  Clearly, the Saudis have the price advantage and can win the market share game simply by holding prices below $50 per barrel indefinitely. 

The impact is being felt beyond North America.  In the North Sea, both UK and Norwegian oil-rig counts are lower today and are projected to be even lower in 2015.  Those wells are simply not profitable at the current price point.  Not only are rigs being taken offline worldwide, but applications for new wells are down over 50%, and Cap-Ex spend projections for next year are being lowered tremendously.  Financing for new exploration and drilling is expected to be difficult to obtain, again due to profitability.  That will be exacerbated by rising interest rates should that happen.

What this means in the medium to long term is two-fold.  At the moment, Saudi Arabia is antagonizing one of the largest industries in their largest global political ally.  Expect the petroleum lobby to begin to apply political pressure in the White House and in Congress, if that hasn't already started.  This will change the politics between US and Saudi relations, and anytime you have a changing political dynamic in the Middle East, events can become very volatile very fast.

The second outcome will be tightening of supply, which will result in a rise in oil prices.  Nobody is willing to predict when that will occur, but it's definitely on the horizon for sometime in 2015.  Even if it's not an overt action taken by the industry, it will be a de facto result as the more expensive drilling operations either go offline until prices rise, or they go bankrupt in the face of insurmountable losses.  A look at the overall break-even points for the various producers will provide an excellent investment opportunity since they are the ones most able to survive this downturn in price, and they are the companies that will reap the harvest when prices inevitably resume their climb.