As Darren Winters explains, the twilight age of oil could be upon us if so the bullish case for energy metals is a good one.
Maybe Venezuela’s collapse and other major oil exporters experiencing a shortfall in government revenue could all be evidence that the shift away from oil to renewable energy is already well underway.
In this new dynamics the price of energy metals are rising, meanwhile, the current price of oil at $53 per barrel remains stubbornly below the break-even price for many oil producers.
The rapid emergence of the world’s renewable energy sector supports the bullish case for energy metals
As Darren Winters explains, in the past when investors decided to set aside funds for energy investing they would turn to oil but today investors are diversifying into energy metals.
The shift into renewable energy is complementary to energy metals demand
The more households and businesses rely on renewable energy to function in a modern world the greater the demand for energy metals is likely to be going forward.
The bullish case for energy metals is a strong one
The Vancouver Resource Investment Conference recently (January 20, 2019) highlighted the bullish case for energy metals
What are energy metals?
Lithium is first on the list, it is used in EV batteries. HSBC has just raised its demand forecast for lithium in 2025 by 88%, from one year ago. Moreover, lithium demand for EV is projected to increase eight times from the current levels by 2025, according to Bloomberg.
Copper is an excellent conductor of electricity and anything that is electrified contains copper.
Copper stockpiles are at a five year low. Moreover, 200 copper mines are expected to close by 2035 which is likely to make new mines valuable.
Cobalt is an energy metal used in EV batteries. Over the next 10 years, cobalt demand is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 11.6%. Cobalt is also in limited supply.
Silver is not only on the list of energy metals it is also an investment metal. Photovoltaic installations are expected to grow by 17%.
Uranium, already used to electrify cities could also have use electrifying the vehicles of tomorrow.
One tonne of uranium generates the same amount of energy as 130,00 tonnes of coal.
Tin, the glue of metals, used to bind things together is an important component in high tech hardware, EVs, robotics and renewable energies.
Zinc is used in electronics, autos, and infrastructure and it is the fourth most used metal to protect things from corrosion.
Vanadium is also on the list of energy metals used in energy storage applications.
REEs is less known on the list of energy metals. It is used in EVs, and in green power applications.
Demand is expected to increase by twelve times by 2050.
Darren Winters sums up that the bullish case for energy metals is sound. Solar wind power is increasing. Electric vehicle ownership is expected to increase by forty times in the next 13 years. Demand for energy storage is also growing and expected to leap from $194 billion to $296 billion between 2017-2024. So it is no surprise that capital flows into energy metals is increasing.