The world’s most valuable resource is no longer oil, but data • Hacker News Board

Re: The world’s most valuable resource is no longer oil, but data

#21

Post by nojvek » Fri, May 05, 2017, 3:58 PM UTC

adrianN wrote: post #13

ccozan wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The company itself might not be traded on stock exchanges, but the products are. Which means, the moment you own 20% of all the oil on the planet, and 25% of the gas [1] , you can compute the value of the company quite easily. And this value dwarfs Google and Apple very easily. [1] http://www.londonlovesbusiness.com/business-news/finance/sto...

I know very little about economics, but it seems very weird to me to compute the value of an oil company based on the current price of oil and the reserves it owns. Not all oil it owns is for sale right now at that price and it is very unlikely that the price for oil will stay the same until all reserves are depleted.

Market value is speculation based on future profits. Sure oil is currently the most energy dense means of portable energy storage in a somewhat affordable manner.

But do keep in mind half of oil goes to fuel cars. Once cars become electric and solar chargers pop up in cities things change considerably.

We only rely on oily and pay absurds amounts of money to Saudi Arabia since we have little choice. Once the alternatives become cheaper, it's better both economically and environmentally to distance away from Saudi oil.

Sure Saudi can make oil cheap as dirt to combat alternatives but then they aren't making as much money. I don't foresee a scenario that in 20 years Saudi oil demand will keep on rising.

Their entire economy is based on natural resources. Not a great place to be.

Re: The world’s most valuable resource is no longer oil, but data

#22

Post by x2398dh1 » Fri, May 05, 2017, 5:04 PM UTC

No one on this thread seems to have read the article - the article is about trust-busting Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Microsoft. As far as I can tell, everyone on here (at the time of my posting this comment) is squabbling over the title, arguing whether oil or data is more valuable, the dubious definition of data, hard vs. soft goods, etc.

The central thesis of the article is that these companies have become large and the barriers to entry which come from this size may be perceived as being against the public good, as in the case of Standard Oil. That is what is meant by, "Data is the new oil," - it has nothing to do with the actual perceived or actual value of oil or data, but rather the idea that while it is impossible to compete with these companies. The Economist goes on to state that it is no proponent of trust-busting because, "size is not a crime," as they put it so therefore we have to regulate the capture of data in different ways.

Re: The world’s most valuable resource is no longer oil, but data

#23

Post by giggidygig » Sat, May 06, 2017, 11:39 AM UTC

taneq wrote: post #8

This was always the case. Even when oil was "the most valuable resource", the one thing more valuable than oil was data (about oil).

Very true. Data about oil is also plagued with the fact that it too cannot be fully trusted to a high degree, unless that data is associated with physical evidence (actual production), which even then cannot be 100% reliable.

Re: The world’s most valuable resource is no longer oil, but data

#24

Post by narrowrail » Mon, May 08, 2017, 6:30 PM UTC

rb808 wrote: post #19

narrowrail wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Such a bizarre comparison. Google is not all data, and Saudi Aramco is not all oil. Saudi Aramco also has refining and shipping operations. Finally, Saudi Aramco is privately held by Saudi Arabia, not publicly trade and valued my the market.

Not long to go. IPO is next year. > Last year, he said he expected the IPO would value Aramco at least $2 trillion. Any valuation would account for both oil price expectations and the size of Saudi Arabia's proven oil reserves. http://www.reuters.com/article/us-saudi-aramco-ipo-idUSKBN17...

And the float will be...5% of the company.

Re: The world’s most valuable resource is no longer oil, but data

#25

Post by narrowrail » Mon, May 08, 2017, 6:40 PM UTC

ccozan wrote: post #12

narrowrail wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Such a bizarre comparison. Google is not all data, and Saudi Aramco is not all oil. Saudi Aramco also has refining and shipping operations. Finally, Saudi Aramco is privately held by Saudi Arabia, not publicly trade and valued my the market.

The company itself might not be traded on stock exchanges, but the products are. Which means, the moment you own 20% of all the oil on the planet, and 25% of the gas [1] , you can compute the value of the company quite easily. And this value dwarfs Google and Apple very easily. [1] http://www.londonlovesbusiness.com/business-news/finance/sto...

I haven't read an s-1 from Saudi Aramco yet, but in 2014 (when oil was still riding high), they did $1.5T in revenue. Given some of the most favorable valuation methods, let's say 5x revenue== $7.5T. however, margins are important. I think a good estimate for Saudi Aramco is 25% for margins== $1.8T/yr. If/when the Saudi people ever figure out that the royal family captures the vast majority of the revenue from the resources of the entire country, I think the 33M Saudi people are going to start rioting in the streets.