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Three Oil Stocks to Watch as Drilling Activity Soars
North America oil drilling is on the rise, and many oil companies – and their stocks – are following.
The Oil and Gas Journal reported for the week ended May 18 there were 12% more oil and gas drilling rigs active in the United States from the same period a year ago, totaling 1,986.
Just look at the Texas Eagle Ford shale region, the largest U.S. shale oil deposit, which is booming more than expected. Shale oil production has increased nearly seven-fold from 2010 to 2011, from an average of just less than 12,000 barrels a day to about 83,400 barrels a day.
And that could explode to 500,000 barrels a day by the end of 2012, according to Valero Energy Corp. (NYSE: VLO) CEO Bill Klesse, with output expected to double to 1 million barrels a day "in the next few years."
Eagle Ford isn't the only area exploding with activity. More than 475 rigs are working across the Permian in West Texas and southeastern New Mexico. Those areas are already producing close to a million barrels a day. By decade's end, that daily total could double to nearly the total oil output of Nigeria.
"We're having a revolution," G. Steven Farris, chief executive of Apache Corp. (NYSE: APA), one of the basin's most active producers, told The New York Times. "And we're just scratching the surface."
This is the Next Oil Market Crisis
We’re nearing the July 1 European ban on Iranian oil, and nothing has changed. Talks in Iran regarding oil imports and exports have failed to deliver progress – which means a looming crisis in the oil markets. Iran is OPEC’s second-largest oil producer, and no sides are budging on what they want out of the deal.
Dr. Kent Moors, Money Morning’s Global Energy Strategist, joined Fox Business to discuss what this means for the oil markets. What happens in the Iran talks will affect investors, consumers, and many economies.
Watch this clip to see just how the looming oil market crisis will affect you.
High Oil Prices: Worries Escalate Over $200 Oil and $6 Gas
Could new sanctions against Iran spark a crisis that drives oil prices to $200 a barrel?
The leaders of the Group of Eight (G8) economies certainly hope not.
Even still, they recently unveiled plans to tap into global emergency strategic oil reserves — just in case.
Citing their "grave concern" over Iran's nuclear program and the "likelihood of further disruptions in oil sales" G8 leaders put the International Energy Agency (IEA) on standby to tap the reserves at a moment's notice.
"Looking ahead we…stand ready to call upon the IEA to take appropriate action to ensure that the market is fully and timely supplied," said the statement summing up their meeting last weekend.
But the G8 may just be trying to calm the markets before the storm. History shows that tapping into the reserves won't do much to prevent higher prices.
And there's no reason to believe this time will be any different.
These High-Yield Natural Gas Stocks are Cheap Buys
Cheap natural gas has made this a year for price pullbacks among natural gas stocks and related investments.
Look at United States Natural Gas Fund (NYSE: UNG), the exchange-traded fund following the price of the fuel. In July 2011 it was selling for over $45 a share.
UNG hit a 52-week low of $14.25 on April 19.
Now it's climbed back up to near $20, but still well off its 52-week high of $50.52.
But don't think this price lull is permanent. There are many reasons the fuel will be more in demand – and eventually, more pricey.
"Natural gas doesn't give cancer…it'sa very useful product, very cheap per Btu — much less than oil, and is less pollutive than oil or coal," said legendary investor Wilbur Ross, who is long-term bullish on natural gas, in a recent interview. "There may be a little more downward blip but I think the worst part has got to be over."
Still, no one wants to "catch a falling knife."
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Good News for Gold Prices: Commodities are Wounded, But Far From Dead
Greece is frozen in a political stalemate. Youth unemployment is running at over 50%. And there has been a $1 billion run on Greek banks.
From near and afar, there appears to be no easy way out, especially now that the Eurozone is heading back into a recession.
It's times like these when investors pour into the U.S. dollar for its "perceived safety."
With commodities priced in U.S. dollars, this spike in the greenback has sent commodities-including gold prices-into a tailspin since early March.
That has many doubters asking: "Has the commodities super-cycle ended?"
It's a reasonable question considering the Continuous Commodity Index (CCI) is back down to levels it last saw in September 2010.
What's more, gold prices have backed off to near $1,500/oz., and oil prices have fallen from $110 to $90/barrel.
But as you'll see, the commodities coin does have another side.
The Other Side of the Commodities Story
In fact, a recent article by Frank Holmes, CEO and chief investment officer at U.S. Global Investors, pointed out how China and other emerging nations are in better fiscal shape than much of the West.
Even if China is slowing somewhat, it is still growing at an enviable 8% per year, with only 42% debt to GDP ratio. So rather than go for more outright stimulus, it's expected that China will target new loan growth and its M2-money supply growth to around 14%.
Meanwhile, India and Australia have just lowered interest rates while other central banks are basically refusing to raise rates.
It means the world will keep turning, people will keep consuming and annual demand of raw materials is likely to remain elevated.
As for gold prices, let's cut right to the chase.
How Natural Gas Companies Could Save You 25% on Fuel
Thanks to new developments from natural gas companies, fuel costs might soon be falling by as much as 25% for some individuals.
Royal Dutch Shell PLC (NYSE: RDS:A, RDS.B) plans to spend $250 million on a liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant and filling stations in what is the biggest single investment yet in making frozen gas a transport fuel.
LNG has been a hot topic of late as an overabundance of fuel from North America's shale rocks has made the U.S. the world's largest natural-gas producer and led to decade-low natural gas prices.
Chad Porter, the COO of Ferus, a Calgary-based oil services company, tested the savings of running vehicles on LNG compared to diesel and liked what he saw.
Porter told Bloomberg News that he estimated switching from diesel to LNG as a transport fuel will lower his fuel bill by 22%, or $1 a gallon at the tank.
That helps make the case for switching to engines that run on liquefied natural gas.
"LNG holds great potential as a transport fuel," Mark Williams, Shell's director for downstream, said in a speech this month. "North America, for example, now has a century of gas supplies at current consumption rates. So gas is likely to gain market share in transportation."
The Top Five Eagle Ford Shale Oil Stocks
The shale oil boom is turning out to be even bigger than anyone predicted.
Recently Money Morning told you about the Bakken oil shale boom. The Eagle Ford shale oil formation in south Texas is nearly as large, and production there is ramping up rapidly.
Eagle Ford is among the largest U.S. shale oil deposits, with recoverable reserves estimated as high as 7 billion to 10 billion barrels.
But Eagle Ford is also "liquids-rich." That means it has a high concentration of oil versus gas — a major attraction at a time when oil prices are high and natural gas prices are at historic lows.
Many oil companies are eager to get in on the action at Eagle Ford, and expectations are running high.
"We are evaluating a series of projects … that could literally double our company's earnings over the next few years," Curt Anastasio, CEO of NuStar Energy (NYSE: NS), told Reuters.
Another oil company CEO, Bill Klesse of Valero Energy Corp. (NYSE: VLO), thinks Eagle Ford could have an impact even beyond bigger profits.
"It's going to back out sweet crude imports into the United States, and that's going to happen by 2014," Klesse predicted, speaking at Valero's annual meeting earlier this month.
Indeed, the statistics coming out surrounding the Eagle Ford shale oil operations are impressive.
Data from the Texas Railroad Commission, which regulates energy in the state, tells an amazing story. Shale oil production increased nearly seven-fold from 2010 to 2011, from an average of just less than 12,000 barrels a day to about 83,400 barrels a day.
And that could explode to 500,000 barrels a day by the end of 2012, Klesse said, with output expected to double to 1 million barrels a day "in the next few years."
Impact of Eagle Ford Shale Oil Underestimated
Eagle Ford has progressed so quickly that a forecast of its economic benefits became outdated almost as soon as it was issued last year.
A study by the Center for Community and Business Research at the University of Texas San Antonio's Institute for Economic Development in early 2011 projected the Eagle Ford formation would directly and indirectly contribute $21.5 billion and 68,000 full-time jobs to the 20-county South Texas region by 2020.
Last week UTSA released a follow-up study.
It found the Eagle Ford contributed $25 billion to the local economy in 2011 — $3.5 billion more than the 2020 projection.
The new UTSA study says Eagle Ford will pump about $62.3 billion into the local economy by 2021. The job creation number increased to nearly 117,000.
"We view the Eagle Ford activity as an economic opportunity of a lifetime," said Mario Hernandez, president of the San Antonio Economic Development Foundation. "The key goal is the increase in investment and jobs. And if the communities will partner with the private companies that are creating these jobs, it can be a win-win for everybody."
Growth that outruns forecasts is good news for investors. Money Morning has sorted through the many choices to zero in on five Eagle Ford shale oil stocks that could do particularly well:
Investing in Alternative Energy Stocks: Five Solar Power Winners
It has been a tough year for solar power.
Solyndra famously imploded, the price of polysilicon dropped 60%, and a glut of natural gas has made it the "new" alternative energy source.
But make no mistake about it: alternative energy stocks are going to be long-term winners-especially for solar power investors.
For instance did you know that Germans are initiating a campaign valued at more than $260 billion to harness wind and solar power. It is already being called the biggest restructuring of the national energy landscape since the end of World War II.
Or that China plans to double its solar power capacity by installing three GW this year, according to China Daily.
And despite the recent declines, analysts expect European demand to rise again in 2012. UBS forecasts that solar power generation will rise from 21 GW in 2011 to 25 GW in 2012.
What's more, solar panel prices are expected to stabilize as a result of tighter inventories and improving demand.
That's increasing talk within the industry that pure-play alternative energy stocks could be gobbled up by oil companies or large-scale manufacturers.
With that in mind here are five solar power possibilities, including innovative companies, takeover targets, and companies that can compete on cost.
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