This report analyses how structural trends may disrupt future oil demand and explains possible implications for publicly-listed oil companies and their investors. These structural trends are producing an environment of heightened uncertainty where investors’ interests would be better served with more of their capital returned for asset allocation elsewhere.

This report concludes with three actions that investors should consider to adapt to this new environment:

• Ask management teams to commit to returning shareholder capital in lieu of investing in new hydrocarbon growth;
• Vote against scrip dividend options in 2018 to increase capital returns to shareholders and;
• Adapt executive remuneration to prioritise returns and profitability over hydrocarbon production growth.