Impact of the global green factor on the capitalization of oil companies in Russia

Abstract

Research background: This paper studies the impact of a new so-called green factor on the capitalization of petroleum companies, which is becoming highly relevant in view of the signing of the Paris agreements in 2015 and the support for clean energy. Although society, international organizations, and government authorities encourage companies to reduce their environmental impact, one of the main reasons for responsible behavior is still economic efficiency. The oil industry, on the one hand, faces one of the most volatile markets and, on the other hand, has one of the largest environmental impacts of any industry. That requires a detailed study of interconnections between market capitalization and the green factor. Purpose of the article: A comprehensive study of factors affecting the level of capitalization of oil and gas companies in Russia and identification of the most significant among them with a special focus on the green factor. Methods: Econometric analysis of panel data for Russian petroleum companies. The database includes indicators for six major Russian oil companies from 2011 to 2018. The following groups of factors are analyzed to explain the change in the companies’ capitalization: macroeconomic (GDP and inflation in Russia), microeconomic (companies’ revenue, net profit, tax payment, return on assets, return on equity, ratio of borrowed capital to equity), industrial (oil export, refining, production and proven reserves of the companies), and the green factor. Findings & Value added: The selection of factors showed that the size of capitalization has been influenced most significantly by the following: the volume of the company's proven reserves, net profit, tax burden, and the green factor based on the policy of minimizing environmental damage. This result shows that investors consider companies with high environmental performance to be more valuable than companies with similar financial results but lower environmental ratings.