Raoul LeBlanc, vice president North American unconventionals, IHS Markit, hosted a panel during CERAWeek by IHS Markit that discussed what equity markets want from shale producers. “Equity markets have gone sour on most E&P shale producers. Returns aren’t there and investors are looking for companies to grow less, reduce capital,” LeBlanc said. He believes this indicates a different stage of shale.

Technology was another hot topic surrounding CERAWeek. The AGORA “dimension” as LeBlanc called it, was full of gadgets and ideas for innovative technology in energy. However, he said all of that is going to take a lot longer than some people think. “There is a big difference between something pilot or proof of concept to actually getting to where it’s implemented throughout companies and its run throughout the sector and everybody is really getting a lot of value out of it,” LeBlanc said.

Finally, LeBlanc discussed natural gas inventories being far below the five year average. He believes this is an indication of the certainty the market feels that shale is able to overcome any deficit.