Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : Stockman Scott's Political Debate Porch -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: cirrus who wrote (81173)	6/10/2010 8:10:50 PM
From: stockman_scott	Respond to of 89467

Check What A Hurricane Could Do To The Oil Recovery And Cleanup businessinsider.com

To: cirrus who wrote (81173)	6/10/2010 8:40:42 PM
From: stockman_scott	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 89467

China does another big energy deal in the global fight for resources blogs.telegraph.co.uk By Adrian Michaels World / June 10th, 2010 Will there be any oil and gas left for the West by the time the Chinese have finished buying it all up? Richard Orange, our correspondent in Central Asia, alerts us to this announcement that China is buying another 10 billion cubic metres of gas a year from Uzbekistan. (He’s filing shortly and I’ll link to that when it’s in.) To put that in perspective, and if you’re feeling a bit Nerdy Thursday, have a look at this table of gas consumption by country. The Uzbekistan deal represents one seventh of China’s entire 2007 consumption. China’s gas and oil needs are continuing to rise steeply: the country’s energy needs have gone up about 4-5 times since 1978 and demand for oil is set to double between 2005 and 2030. So it is seeking new alliances and new suppliers, constantly. A Forbes blog recently said that in the last 18 months, China had signed loan-for-oil agreements worth more than $60 billion with Russia, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Brazil and Venezuela, among other countries. Aside from being staggering in its scale, these ventures give us cause for worry. China is competing with the West over finite resources, and Central Asia is one of the key battlegrounds. That the region is not known for its adherence to Western democratic values, doesn’t seem to be bothering the Chinese. They are focused on their energy needs in coming decades.

To: cirrus who wrote (81173)	6/11/2010 6:38:54 PM
From: stockman_scott	Respond to of 89467

Gulf Spill Will Lead to Higher Energy Costs, Fewer Deals _______________________________________________________________ Posted on June 11th, 2010 on PeHub Reaction to the Gulf oil spill has been intense. Pictures of oil-covered seagulls and dead fish have made BP the most hated company in the U.S. But little attention has been paid to the higher energy costs that will likely be the disaster’s broadest economic consequence. The Gulf spill will make energy production, particularly off-shore drilling, more regulated. This will make it more expensive for investment firms to look for energy and to produce it. “Consumers will bear the costs of the regulations,” said Dan Revers, managing partner of ArcLight Capital, which invests in oil, gas and coal power. Kenneth Hersh, CEO of NGP Energy Capital Management, believes it’s naïve to think there will be no investor ramification. “Both the amount of capital available for investment as well as returns will suffer in the short to medium term,” he said, adding that the recent moratorium on off-shore drilling has put off-shore investments in “total jeopardy.” Revers feels there will be fewer deals in energy because of the spill. “People are in a holding period,” he said, referring to companies that invest in the Gulf. “They’re waiting to see what it will entail to getting a permit and what costs will be to get new wells in the Coast of Mexico.” The increased regulation will lead to less domestic production of oil and gas, Revers said. Firms will likely still operate in the Gulf but they’ll have to evaluate the costs and returns of staying there. Smaller companies, those with less capital and less profit, may be in trouble. “It may be that [the Gulf] is still an attractive place,” Revers said. “But people are still drilling for oil in other parts of world.” Hersh took issue with the portrayal of the oil sector “as freewheeling.” The energy sector is one of the most highly regulated, he said. The Gulf spill was “an accident. Well meaning people did their job to the best of their ability but there was human error. And some equipment malfunctioned. It was not a systemic risk in all drilling. Unfortunately, the public reaction seems to equate this spill with every single spill in the oil and gas business. And that’s not true.” Hersh compared the spill to airline accidents. When a plane goes down, the accident is sometimes pilot error. “But we don’t ground the airline industry. We learn from our mistakes. That’s what needs to happen here,” he said. With all the bad press, the once-high flying BP is facing an uncertain future. BP is the third largest company in the world with a market value of more than $100 billion. But rumors are circulating that the oil company may go bankrupt or get taken over. Shares have fallen 40% since the April catastrophe. Hersh would not comment on BP’s future while Revers said BP should be able to weather the storm. “They’re facing the unknown in terms of total costs [of the catastrophe] and there is lots of momentum against them…Theoretically, I expect them to do fine. But we’re in uncharted territory here,” he said.