Posts related to ‘Oil & Gas’

Rig Count Growth Mostly Positive (BHI, OIH, DIG, USO, OIL)

Baker Hughes, Inc. (NYSE: BHI) has released its data on the weekly rig counts and most are up. We are watching the key ETF products react via the Oil Services HOLDRs (NYSE: OIH), the Ultra Oil & Gas ProShares (NYSE: DIG), the United States Oil (NYSE: USO) ETF and the iPath S&P GSCI Crude Oil Total Return Index ETN (NYSE: OIL) react to this news.  It will be interesting to see if this continues after the recent pause in oil.

Posted on: November 20, 2009 – 1:11 pm in Commodities, ETF, Oil & Gas, , , , ,

The More Focused, and More Opaque, Buffett & Berkshire Hathaway (BRK-A, BRK-B, BNI, UNP, NSC, GS, GE, TIF, HOG, WMT, COP, XOM, WFC, RSG, DOW, ETN, WBC, MCO, WLP, UNH, GSK, SNY, GCI, WPO)

This was an important week for investment guru and billionaire watchers to see which gurus were holding which stocks.  The full public equity holdings of Warren Buffett via Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK-A) were particularly of note, particularly with those B shares under “BRK-B” soon to split and giving a chance for even the less astute ranks of Joe Public to own a piece of the Berkshire dream.  Obviously the huge change is via the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp. (NYSE: BNI) buyout.  As part of this deal, Buffett is exiting Union Pacific (NYSE: UNP) and exiting Norfolk Southern (NYSE: NSC) stakes of about $600 million and $100 million, respectively, to avoid duplication and internal competition.  The rail transport play now accounts for about one-quarter of the total Berkshire Hathaway entity upon closing. But the less obvious position in that Warren Buffett in 2009 has made it clear that there will be a simpler and probably less “stock-hound” version of Berkshire Hathaway ahead.

Buffett has gone higher up the food chain and is likely to be a creditor now inside or to large institutions.  We have seen this during the crisis.  Buffett negotiated a better deal for Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE: GS) than the US Government was able to get.  Buffett’s preferred stock in Goldman Sachs has a dividend of 10% and is callable at any time at a 10% premium; but Buffett also got warrants to purchase $5 billion of common stock with a strike price of $115.00 per share, exercisable for a five-year term (4 years now), and Buffett would effectively get to pocket $61 per share if he exercised those all today at the market (and with a $2.6 billion warrant profit alone).

The General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) stake was listed only as 7.77 million shares of common stock (about $125 million now), the same as it has been for quarters.  Yet last year Buffett came to the rescue with a $3 billion of perpetual preferred stock in a private offering with a dividend of 10% and warrants to purchase $3 billion of common stock.  The preferred is callable after 3-years (2 years now) at a 10% premium; the warrants have a strike price of $22.25 and are exercisable for a five-year term (4 years now).
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Posted on: November 19, 2009 – 8:59 am in Activist Investor, Bonds, Buffett, Conglomerates, Dividend, Editor's Picks, Infrastructure, Large Cap Stocks, Mergers and Buy Outs, Oil & Gas, Private Equity, Transports, Value Investing, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Oil Inventories Heading Wrong Way (OIH, DIG, USO, OIL)

The Department of Energy has just released its weekly oil inventories data and those wanting stable prices from oil data may be disappointed.  We are watching the key ETFs around the news via the Oil Services HOLDRs (NYSE: OIH), the Ultra Oil & Gas ProShares (NYSE: DIG), the United States Oil (NYSE: USO) ETF and the iPath S&P GSCI Crude Oil Total Return Index ETN (NYSE: OIL) reactions based upon the supply data.  NYMEX WTI Crude is up $0.89 per barrel at $80.03 at 10:38 AM EST after the news.

Crude stockpiles fell by 887,000 barrels (to 336.789 million barrels) versus a Dow Jones target of -600,000.  Frankly, anything negative was going to be a disappointment for us.  And it only gets worse from there…
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Posted on: November 18, 2009 – 10:42 am in Commodities, ETF, Oil & Gas, , , ,

Exxon: Weak Dollar Adding $20 to Oil Prices (XOM, USO)

Money ImageThe weak dollar has definitely been a contributor to the rise in the price of gold.  And it is also partly responsible for some of the oil gains that took prices back over $80 per barrel before the recent pullback.  But Rex Tillerson, the CEO of Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM), has actually quantified this with an assigned dollar value to CNBC.  His take is that as much as $20.00 per barrel is tied to the weakness of the US Dollar.
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Posted on: November 13, 2009 – 7:53 am in Commodities, Oil & Gas, ,

U.S. Oil Stockspiles Increase More Than Expected

Today’s EIA Petroleum Status Report for last week shows oil inventories to have grown 1.8 million barrels.  Many analysts expected the number to have grown by 1 million barrels.  Oil futures were down ahead of the report, largely on the strength of the dollars.  

U.S. Oil Stock, January 1st 2009 through November 6th 2009

Oil Reserves

Weekly U.S Spot Prices, January 1st 2009 through October 30th 2009

U.S. Oil Spot Price 11

Oil prices have been on the rise since October.  This price movement have been supported by a number of factors.  Perhaps the strongest among them has been the decline in the dollar against the currencies of its major trading partners, as oil is denominated in dollars.  Since the beginning of October the dollar has declined over 2% against the Euro, enhancing European demand for oil.  Oil prices have also been given a boost by the recent G-20 meeting where economic policy markers from the worlds richest 20 countries indicated they would continue their fiscal and monetary stimulus.  Also, the IEA recently revised their projections for global oil demand, citing powerful growth in China.  

Garrett W. McIntyre

Posted on: November 12, 2009 – 11:23 am in Economy, International Markets, Oil & Gas, , ,

IEA Says Rising Energy Prices Could Smother Recovery

gasThe International Energy Agency not only raised its forecast for oil demand this year but also said that rising oil prices could cut off the global economic recovery.

According to the AP, rising oil prices could imperil modestly increasing demand for oil and the recovery of the global economy.

That makes sense. When gasoline prices topped $4 last summer, it accelerated the US economy’s collapse into recession.

Douglas A. McIntyre

Posted on: November 12, 2009 – 6:04 am in Oil & Gas

International Energy Agency Sees Sharp Rise In Global Temperatures

oilThe IAE is predicting that use of fossil fuels could cause a very sharp increase in the world’s temperature as the demand for energy rebounds from the recession.

In its new World Energy Outlook, the agency writes that “a continuation of current trends in energy use puts the world on track for a rise in temperature of up to 6°C and poses serious threats to global energy security.” Read More »

Posted on: November 10, 2009 – 6:07 am in Oil & Gas

Ida: The Hurricaneless Hurricane (OIH, USO, OIL, MUR, MRO, RDS, CVX, XOM)

IDA ImageOil and gas companies have closed or winding down many US Gulf operations ahead of a very late in the year Hurricane Ida.  The weekend reports had this one dissipating then the reports early this morning had this making landfall as a tropical storm with [a possibility of it being hurricane.  This morning Ida became a tropical storm again at the National Hurricane Center.  In order to not have to out-guess ahead of time which companies will be least or most impacted had this been a full hurricane at the time it met rigs and the coast, we looked at the Oil Services HOLDRs (NYSE: OIH), the United States Oil (NYSE: USO) ETF and the iPath S&P GSCI Crude Oil Total Return Index ETN (NYSE: OIL) reactions based upon the supply data.  While the infrastructure is now not as likely to be hit as hard and while a tropical storm is far less of a threat than a hurricane, NYMEX WTI Crude is actually still up $1.78 at $79.21 as of 10:13 AM EST.
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Posted on: November 9, 2009 – 10:27 am in Commodities, Oil & Gas, , , , , , , ,

Oil Prices: Hurricane Ida Heads Toward Gulf Deep Sea Drilling Platforms

oilBy Douglas A. McIntyre

It has been months since a hurricane posed a real threat to oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico. Now, Hurricane Ida is entering the region from the west after doing significant damage in Nicaragua.

Most hurricanes that move into the Gulf end up doing very little damage to either deep sea drilling platforms or the refineries around Houston, but traders still get nervous about the potential interruption in oil supply.

Read more….

Posted on: November 9, 2009 – 5:46 am in Oil & Gas

Oil Inventories Head Wrong Way, Again (OIH, DIG, USO, OIL)

Refinery ImageThe latest weekly inventories data from Department of Energy in crude and oil products is adding more support and adding fuel to a fire in the commodity rally today. It looks like we are back to larger draw-downs that expected. We are watching the Oil Services HOLDRs (NYSE: OIH), the Ultra Oil & Gas ProShares (NYSE: DIG), the United States Oil (NYSE: USO) ETF and the iPath S&P GSCI Crude Oil Total Return Index ETN (NYSE: OIL) reactions based upon the supply data.  NYMEX WTI Crude is now up $1.13 at $80.73 as of 10:36 AM EST.
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Posted on: November 4, 2009 – 10:47 am in Commodities, ETF, Oil & Gas, , , ,

Bankruptcy Watch: A Wave Of Energy Bankruptcies

Today South Texas Oil Company (NASDAQ: STXX), an oil and gas company, filed for relief under Chapter 11 in the United States Bankruptcy court for the Western District of Texas.  The company will file a motion with the Bankruptcy Court to allow them to seek interim financing for $1.5 million.

Yesterday Rancher Energy Corp (OTC: RNCH), a company engaged in the development, production and marketing of oil and gas, filed for relief under Chapter 11 in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Colorado.

On October 27th, CanArgo Energy Corporation (OTC: CANR), an oil and gas exploration company, filed for relief under Chapter 11 with the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York.   The company has filed a motion with the Court that it approve an additional $1.2 million in loans for operational funding.  The company’s Chapter 11 filing has caused roughly $18.1 million in debt to become due for the company.

Garrett W. McIntyre

Posted on: October 30, 2009 – 2:16 pm in Bankruptcy, Oil & Gas, , ,

Rig Counts Inching Back Up (BHI, OIH, DIG, USO, OIL)

oil-well-image11This week’s data from Baker Hughes, Inc. (NYSE: BHI) on the weekly rig counts looks better and less mixed than in other weeks despite the notion that all projects should be financially sound at current levels.  On the news, we are watching the key ETF products of the Oil Services HOLDRs (NYSE: OIH), the Ultra Oil & Gas ProShares (NYSE: DIG), the United States Oil (NYSE: USO) ETF and the iPath S&P GSCI Crude Oil Total Return Index ETN (NYSE: OIL) react to this news.  The overall figure is up, but barely.  Commodities players are mostly lower today, but more on the consumer data than on anything about rig counts.
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Posted on: October 30, 2009 – 2:06 pm in Commodities, ETF, Oil & Gas, , , , ,

DOE Oil Inventories Back Up (OIH, DIG, USO, OIL)

Refinery ImageWe have just seen this week’s latest Department of Energy weekly oil inventory data.  The new report is on the heels of a sudden rise in oil prices followed by an almost just as sudden drop in oil prices this week.  Fortunately for the consumer, there was a rise in the key inventory data we follow.  The question is if it is enough of a gain to keep oil as a commodity from attracting too much in new investment dollars.  We are watching the Oil Services HOLDRs (NYSE: OIH), the Ultra Oil & Gas ProShares (NYSE: DIG), the United States Oil (NYSE: USO) ETF and the iPath S&P GSCI Crude Oil Total Return Index ETN (NYSE: OIL) reactions based upon the supply data.  At 10:41 AM EST we have NYMEX WTI Crude down by $1.35 at $78.20 (down from the $79.75 level after inventory a week ago).

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Posted on: October 28, 2009 – 10:44 am in Commodities, ETF, Oil & Gas, , , ,

4 More DJIA Stocks To Report Earnings (VZ, XOM, PG, CVX)

money-stack-imageLast week marked what was the crest of third quarter earnings season for 2009, yet there is still a flood of earnings reports coming out this next week.  We have four more DJIA components set to report earnings this week, and that should make for 25 of the 30 DJIA components after the week is out.  Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ), ExxonMobil Corporation (NYSE: XOM), Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE: PG), and Chevron Corp. (NYSE: CVX) will all be on deck for earnings.

We have included Thomson Reuters consensus data for earnings and revenue estimates and added color on each where applicable along with recent share performance metrics.
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Posted on: October 25, 2009 – 7:20 am in Calendar, Earnings, Oil & Gas, , , ,

Next Week’s Top 10 Earnings (VZ, APOL, VLO, V, WYNN, COP, FSLR, CME, XOM, PG)

NYSE Floor ImageThis week was the crest of 2009 third quarter earnings season.  We still have a flood of reports next week and picking a mere top ten earnings to watch was very unfair to many key stocks.  But the ten earnings we have flagged as the top ten for next week are Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ), Apollo Group Inc. (NASDAQ: APOL), Valero Energy Corp. (NYSE: VLO), Visa, Inc. (NYSE: V), Wynn Resorts Ltd. (NASDAQ: WYNN), ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP), First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR), Chicago Mercantile Exchange Holdings Inc. (NYSE: CME), ExxonMobil Corporation (NYSE: XOM) and Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE: PG).  We have included Thomson Reuters consensus data for earnings and revenue estimates and added color on each where applicable.
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Posted on: October 23, 2009 – 1:21 pm in Alternative Energy, Calendar, Earnings, Oil & Gas, , , , , , , , , ,

Mixed Bag on Oil Rig Counts (BHI, OIH, DIG, USO, OIL)

oil-well-image11Baker Hughes, Inc. (NYSE: BHI) has released its weekly rig counts, and the results are not as strong as you would expect considering $80 oil is here.  We have watched the Oil Services HOLDRs (NYSE: OIH), the Ultra Oil & Gas ProShares (NYSE: DIG), the United States Oil (NYSE: USO) ETF and the iPath S&P GSCI Crude Oil Total Return Index ETN (NYSE: OIL) react to this news.  The overall figure is up, but barely.

Posted on: October 23, 2009 – 1:15 pm in Commodities, Oil & Gas, , , , ,

Odds Of $3 Gas By Year-End Grow

gasIt has taken less than three months from oil to go from $65 to $81, a 25% increase. Gasoline prices have not moved up as fast but have risen to $2.50. That price could easily move to $3 by the end of the year.

Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) says it expects crude to move to $100 a barrel in 2010, and a number of factors could cause the timing of that increase to come sooner rather than later. At $100, oil would climb another 23% from its current price. Read More »

Posted on: October 23, 2009 – 6:03 am in Oil & Gas

Korea Joins China in Foreign Oil Acquisitions in Americas

oil-well-image11Harvest Energy Trust (NYSE: HTE) is a Canadian energy trust that has gone unnoticed by many Americans.  Yet today it is one of the top percentage gainers because the trust is being acquired by Korea National Oil Corp. in South Korea.  It seems that South Korea is joining in following the waves of Chinese acquisitions of oil and energy sources located throughout the world.  We have noted China’s insatiable appetite of securing these raw energy assets, and common sense would dictate that only more deals will come down the pipe.
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Posted on: October 22, 2009 – 2:49 pm in ADR, China, Commodities, Mergers and Buy Outs, Oil & Gas,

DOE Mixed Inventory Driving Oil Prices (OIH, DIG, USO, OIL)

Refinery ImageThe Department of Energy’s weekly energy inventories data is giving another mixed picture similar to last week.  The difference is that this was more in-line with expectations that what we saw last week.  We are watching the Oil Services HOLDRs (NYSE: OIH), the Ultra Oil & Gas ProShares (NYSE: DIG), the United States Oil (NYSE: USO) ETF and the iPath S&P GSCI Crude Oil Total Return Index ETN (NYSE: OIL) reactions based upon the supply data.  At 10:44 AM EST we have NYMEX WTI Crude up $0.63 per barrel at $79.75 0.5% (up from the $76.43 after the last week’s inventory data).
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Posted on: October 21, 2009 – 10:50 am in Commodities, ETF, Oil & Gas, , , ,

The Economy’s 90/10 Rule

oilEconomists spend nearly all of their time now trying to figure out whether the recovery will stay on course and if GDP in the US will recover at 4% or 5% rate next year. They reason that if things go that well then business activity will provide employment for those without jobs and that rising IRS receipts from enterprises and individuals will begin to re-pay the deficit. Read More »

Posted on: October 20, 2009 – 5:07 am in China, Economy, Oil & Gas