BP Oil Spill Has Potentially Large Implications for Oil Prices and Alternative Energy, Says ETF Securities

The BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has potentially large implications for the energy sector with the cost of the spill being estimated at US$32.2 billion. With current International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates putting offshore production at around half of oil production towards 2015, and if the US tightens regulations on offshore oil drilling and other countries follow suit, the implications for longer-dated oil prices and the alternative energy sector could be significant.

Commenting on the trends and potential implications for the oil, alternative and nuclear industries, Daniel Wills, Senior Analyst at ETF Securities, said:

"The BP oil spill cannot be looked at as a one-off isolated event. The spill has potential implications for the oil industry as a whole and for global policies towards alternative and nuclear energy. With BP estimating that the cost of the spill may be as much as US$32.2 billion, the spill will likely increase the industry-wide cost of offshore oil production as companies are forced to reassess their potential liabilities from these types of activities - not just in the US Gulf but globally. This is a potentially significant development given that the IEA projects that around half of oil production towards 2015 will come from offshore sources.

In addition, recent rhetoric indicates that the spill is giving new impetus to US and international policies to boost alternative and nuclear energy sources at the expense of fossil fuels."

Notes to Editor

ETF Securities' (ETFS) global assets under management in its energy ETCs and nuclear and alternative energy ETFs stood at US$3.01 billion on 23rd July 2010.

Please click here to view data on ETF Securities' oil, nuclear and alternative energy products since the BP oil spill Vs 2009

About ETF Securities

ETF Securities is a provider of Exchange Traded Commodities and Currencies (ETCs) and 3rd generation Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs). The management of ETF Securities pioneered the development of ETCs, with the world's first listing of an ETC, Gold Bullion Securities in Australia and London in 2003 and then the world's first entire ETC platform which was listed on the London Stock Exchange in September 2006. ETF Securities' global assets under management stand at approximately US$20 billion (as at 27 July 2010).

The Exchange Traded Products (ETPs) above provide investors with a wide variety of investment strategies, with ETPs offering resource equities, physical, long, forward, leveraged and short exposure to all commodity sectors as well as emerging market and G10 currencies.

ETPs are simple to access as they are traded in up to five currencies (EUR, USD, GBP, AUD and JPY) and listed across up to nine major exchanges globally including the London Stock Exchange Group (London Stock Exchange and Borsa Italiana), the New York Stock Exchange, the Tokyo Stock Exchange, NYSE-Euronext Paris, NYSE-Euronext Amsterdam, Deutsche Börse, the Australian Securities Exchange and the Irish Stock Exchange.

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