Oil!

 

Oil means Big Business. Even 77 years after John D. Rockefeller’s death, the term “rich as Rockefeller” is still

being used to suggest unbelievable wealth. Oil companies, sometimes with unbroken continuity of 100 years,

continue to represent power and money and all that this combination can achieve. Taking into account not only

listed but also national companies, oil groups represent more than half of the world’s 20 biggest firms.

 

Like nothing else, oil stands for high-level politics and its means of assertion, sometimes by extreme measures

such as wars. The switching of the English fleet to oil fuelling was a decisive move in WWI, the strategy of the

Nazis in WWII was dominated by the lack of usable oil wells, and Japan’s goal back then was to secure access

to the Indonesian oil wells. And the Gulf Wars showed that global politics are oil politics to this day.

 

Oil epitomises our age. In spite of the digital revolution, we live in the Age of Hydrocarbon. I am typing on a

keyboard, sitting on a chair, and wearing shoes that have at least in parts been produced from oil. Even the

pills we take when we are sick contain oil. By and large we can say that the black gold is the basis of our standard

of living and life style. No oil – no modern society.

 

Oil causes problematic to devastating issues such as fracking, CO2 pollution, and Deep Water Horizon. On top

of the ecological disasters, oil brings about social conflict and large-scale corruption and thus affects E, S, and

G. Therefore we decided to dedicate this edition of ERSTE RESPONSIBLE RETURN – The ESG-Letter to oil.

A world without oil is currently not an option. But that is not what we are talking about – we talk about

better oil. We are convinced that sustainable investment will contribute to moving a bit further toward

this goal.

 

Sincerely

​

Mag. Gerold Permoser

Chief Investment Officer (CIO), Chief Sustainable Investment Officer (CSIO)