BPH Energy (ASX:BPH) received a speeding ticket from the ASX this week, with the bourse operator asking for a please explain on a so-called unexplainable share price surge.
One thing is obvious from the very fact of a jump in the company’s share price (as well as an enthusiastic community of BPH-watchers on HotCopper) – shareholders have conviction in the stock.
But it’s BPH’s explanation for its share price run that shows a larger truth – the Australian public is thinking about the future of energy in the country.
What the company believes caused the run up in prices was commentary from Australian Federal energy minister Chris Bowen – once notoriously pro-renewables, but increasingly gas-friendly.
At a speech he made to the Energy Users Association of Australia, Bowen told the audience that gas will assist the transition to renewable energy.
This, in BPH’s view, was the psychological trigger that pushed investors into ‘buy’ mode.
Bowen further outlined that gas is more flexible than coal and nuclear when it comes to the ebb and flow of power grid demand; that green hydrogen is still years away, and that new gas supply will be needed in Australia before too long.
This isn’t news to BPH chief David Breeze, and nor is it news to energy watchers broadly.
Australia will need more gas supplies before too long, and it’s not like Canberra is trying to downplay this. Just look at the Beetaloo Basin.
