When condominium manager campaigns, too
Q: I live in a high-rise condo that has had most of the same board members and general manager for more than 10 years. It appears to be well managed, although there is little communication from the general manager or the board and only minimal financial transparency. Board members always run unopposed. This changed in the last election when someone not on the board ran and lost, and we later learned that the general manager and her assistant were campaigning against him, telling people that he wanted to “overthrow the board,” get rid of pets and implement costly changes that would raise maintenance fees. None of these assertions were true. Are employees of HOAS allowed to do this? Is there a way to have a fair election next time?
A: What the general manager and her assistant did was not against the law. However, their actions could be described as unwise because they might find themselves replaced sooner than later, if their behavior and spreading of false information be revealed to the owners in your building.
You should consider meeting with the board and all manage
while selling off $4 billion worth of oil exploration and production projects a year over the next decade.
“We must give our customers the products and services they want and need — products that have the lowest environmental impact,” he said in a statement. “At the same time, we will use our established strengths to build on our competitive portfolio as we make the transition to be a net zero emissions business in step with society.”
Even Exxon’s new CEO, Darren Woods, has started turning his supertanker around. Shareholders have forced him to abandon his strategy of doubling down on fossil fuels.
Instead, the company will invest in renewable energy projects, including $3 billion over five years to develop 20 carbon capture projects. The company will make carbon removal from the atmosphere a business line.
Executives from small oil and gas companies may still post snide comments on my Linkedin posts, but the industry’s leaders recognize the market trends. Even Sinopec, China’s largest refiner, said its demand for crude would likely peak in 2025.
S&P Ratings downgraded the entire oil and gas exploration and production industry recently.
“Strategic industry announcements in 2020 are a response to the energy transition and the increasing risks and uncertainties for oil and gas producers as a result of governments’ and consumers’ concerns and actions on greenhouse gas emissions in particular,” S&P wrote in its explanation. “The downgrade reflects our reassessment of the industry’s and companies’ risk profiles, in part due to these environmental risks.”
Those industry announcements include General Motors’ plan to make only zero-emission vehicles by 2035. Ford will sell only electric vehicles in Europe by then. Not to mention President Joe Biden’s plan for netzero emissions in the power sector by 2035 after dozens of utilities said they could achieve it.
None of this will end the oil and gas industry. We rely on too many products derived from petrochemicals to end drilling. But the industry will shrink, which is why Shell and other European companies are looking to diversify.
Even oil field services companies such as Schlumberger see opportunities outside the oil patch, including constructing carbon-free hydrogen facilities, refining lithium salts for batteries and pumping captured carbon dioxide into oil and gas reservoirs.
“We believe they’ll have success (possibly beaucoup success) over time,” analysts at Houston energy investment bank Tudor, Pickering & Holt wrote in a note to investors.
While the energy transition poses a threat to Texas’ economy, it also poses an opportunity for energy entrepreneurs to develop long-term, marketable solutions that will keep our economy at the forefront of the industry.
Take it from someone with more than 25 years in journalism: Industry transitions are not fun. But as Exxon has discovered, haughtily dismissing change does not stop it from happening. The best executives know that getting ahead of it is the key to financial success.