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Biz360 Media Analysis Reveals That Gas Price Trends Shape Prevailing Opinions About Oil Field Development

Oil and Gas Companies Can Accurately Detect and Measure How Media Coverage Impacts Sentiment Towards Key Issues Such as Oil Field Development That Have a Major Impact on Their Businesses

SAN MATEO, Calif. — September 29, 2008 — A media analysis just released by Biz360® Inc., the leading provider of media and market intelligence solutions, demonstrates a correlation between trends in gas prices and the tone of news articles about the issue of oil field development. The findings of the analysis show how companies that go beyond traditional media clipping services and use advanced techniques to measure tone can be better positioned to respond to market opportunities and challenges.

Biz360's analysis examined English-language news media coverage that referenced the oil and gas industry, and specifically discussed oil field development (e.g., Alaska National Wildlife Refuge, off-shore drilling). Two metrics were analyzed: the number of news articles in a given period, and the tone of each article (positive, neutral or negative to the concept of oil field development). By overlaying the prevailing national price of gas onto these two metrics, Biz360 was able to determine how gas prices shaped the public debate of oil field development.

What the study reveals

  • During April and May, when the average price per gallon of gas rose sharply, media discussion about the prospect of developing new oil fields in the United States, including off-shore drilling and exploration in the Arctic and the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), escalated dramatically. Coverage increased by more than 1,000 percent (1,042%) between April and June.
  • During June and July, when the national average price of gas leveled off, news media coverage of oil field development and Arctic/Alaska drilling also leveled off. By September's end (as of Sept. 29, 2008), coverage of these issues had declined by 25% since June.
  • At the beginning of 2008, the tone of news coverage about oil field development was largely negative. But as gas prices rose, it trended toward positive. Then in June, as the rate of gas price increases slowed, the tone of news coverage on oil field development began to trend back toward negative.
  • At the same time, public opinion in favor of drilling began to soften in late July, when gas prices were receding. (As evidenced by a poll conducted by CNN/Opinion Research Corp.) http://www.pollingreport.com/energy.htm
  • The up-and-down trend of the three metrics of news volume, news tone and public opinion implies that support for drilling was driven by public fear of unbridled skyrocketing gas prices. Once it was evident that prices had peaked, the urgency for considering the development of domestic oil fields ebbed from the public dialogue.

"Our advanced analysis of media coverage of a controversial issue enabled the detection of subtle changes in the tone of the debate," said Brad Brodigan, CEO of Biz360. "The technology behind this analysis, Biz360's Media Insights, can be used to similar effect in any industry where executives depend on up-to-the-minute insight and trend identification concerning issues, opportunities and threats to inform key business decisions. Biz360's clients are able to track brand message resonance, understand the effectiveness of marketing and PR campaigns, and be better positioned to respond to emerging trends."

Research methodology

  • The study covers the period January 1 through September 28, 2008 and examined news media coverage that referenced the oil and gas industry and the topic of oil field development (e.g., Arctic, off-shore). A total of 24,360 news articles were captured and analyzed.
  • Data was gathered by Biz360's Web Collection product, which draws information from more than 6,000 English-language online news Web sites.
  • Biz360's advanced metrics techniques were then used to calculate:
    a. Coverage — the number of media articles during a time period;
    b. Tone — a positive, neutral or negative favorability rating based on the perspective of the oil and gas industry was assigned to each article. For example, articles about support for off-shore drilling were rated positive, whereas articles about opposition were rated negative.
  • Average national gas price per gallon was provided by the Energy Information Administration.

About Media Insights

Biz360's Media Insights delivers news media and market intelligence to businesses. It continuously aggregates, measures and analyzes news media information across a global network of content sources. Media Insights works at four levels:

  • Aggregates content from multiple global sources including print, broadcast, and online news in 16 languages;
  • Filters information and delivers ongoing reports featuring key metrics and insights relevant to important marketing and public relations issues;
  • Generates real-time analytics that enable drill-down trend analysis;
  • Provides services at every stage, delivered by Biz360's expert analysts and support team.

About Biz360, Inc.

Biz360 delivers media and market intelligence solutions to Global 2000 business decision makers, providing them with a 360-degree view of their marketplace. The company gathers and analyzes a vast amount of traditional and social media about an organization, its brands, its competitors and its products to deliver real-time insights that help its clients shape market perception, respond to competitive threats, evaluate trends and issues and improve the return on their marketing investments. Biz360's clients include AAA, Aetna, AstraZeneca and Sun Microsystems. Biz360 can be reached at 866.424.9360 or www.biz360.com.

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