Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Project Sponsors are Seeking Federal Approval to Export Domestic Natural Gas

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Liquefied natural gas (LNG) project sponsors have been applying to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) for authorization to export LNG produced from domestic natural gas and to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) for approval to build liquefaction facilities to serve export markets (see map below). A higher price for LNG in international markets is a major motivation for these applications (see chart below).

map of Potential export-oriented natural gas liquefaction facilities, as of March 30, 2012, as described in the article text
Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration

The United States currently only ships LNG overseas through re-exports of imported LNG from the Freeport terminal in Texas, and the Sabine Pass and Cameron terminals in Louisiana. In 2011, LNG re-exports totaled about 53 billion cubic feet (Bcf), up from about 33 Bcf in 2010. The Kenai LNG terminal in Alaska, the only terminal that exported LNG produced from domestic natural gas, has been inactive since December 2011.

graph of Annual U.S. natural gas, crude oil, and NGL production, 2000-2011, as described in the article text
Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration



For more details visit the EIA website

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Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Crude Oil Finishes Higher on Positive Market News

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Crude oil closed up $0.39 a barrel at $103.50 today. Prices closed near mid range again today. Bulls and bears are on a level near term technical playing field. The next near term upside price breakout objective for the crude oil bulls is producing a close above solid technical resistance at $106.00 a barrel.

Natural gas closed down 3.2 cents at $2.064 today. Prices closed near the session low today. Prices Friday hit a contract and 10 year low. The bears have the solid overall near term technical advantage. There are still no early clues to suggest a market low is close at hand.

Gold futures closed up $11.80 an ounce at $1,644.40 today. Prices closed near mid-range today and saw short covering and bargain hunting. The key “outside markets” were in a bullish posture for gold today as the U.S. dollar index was weaker and crude oil prices were firmer. Gold bears still have the overall near term technical advantage. Prices are still in a seven week old downtrend on the daily bar chart.

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PXP Announces Offering Of $500 Million Of Senior Notes

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Plains Exploration & Production Company (NYSE: PXP) announced today that it intends to offer, subject to market and other conditions, $500 million of Senior Notes due 2019 in an underwritten public offering. The offering will be made under PXP's shelf registration statement, which became effective immediately upon filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on March 5, 2010.

Net proceeds from the offering are expected to be used to repay amounts outstanding under PXP's senior revolving credit facility and for general corporate purposes, including the redemption of all $76.9 million aggregate principal amount of PXP's Senior Notes due 2017 that remain outstanding.

This press release does not constitute a notice of redemption of the Senior Notes due 2017. Notice of redemption, if and when given, will be made separately in accordance with the terms of the Senior Notes due 2017.

An electronic copy of the preliminary prospectus supplement and accompanying base prospectus may also be obtained at no charge at the Securities and Exchange Commission's website at http://www.sec.gov.

This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or jurisdiction.

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Iran Crude Supplies to China Fall for Fourth Month in March

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Iran’s oil shipments to China fell for a fourth month in March to the lowest in 22 months amid delays in signing term supply contracts. Imports by the biggest buyer of Iranian crude fell 6.2 percent to 1.08 million metric tons, or about 254,000 barrels a day, according to calculations by Bloomberg from data released via e-mail today by the Beijing based General Administration of Customs.

Supplies from the Persian Gulf nation averaged 557,413 barrels a day last year.
Purchases from Iran slid as China International United Petroleum & Chemical Co., the nation’s biggest oil trader, put off signing a 2012 term contract with National Iranian Oil Co. after a disagreement over payment terms.....Read the entire Bloomberg article.

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Shell to Announce First Quarter Results

On Thursday 26 April at 2 o'clock est Royal Dutch Shell plc will release its first quarter results and first quarter interim dividend announcement for 2012.
These announcements will be available on http://www.shell.com/investor.

Webcasts

Simon Henry, Chief Financial Officer, will host two live webcasts of the first quarter results and first quarter interim dividend announcement for 2012 on Thursday April 26, 2012.

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Monday, April 23, 2012

EIA: Eagle Ford Oil and Natural Gas Well Starts Rose Sharply in First Quarter 2012

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New well starts in the Eagle Ford region in Texas increased 110% from January through March 2012 compared to the same period in 2011, according to reporting and analysis by BENTEK Energy LLC (Bentek).

graph of Eagle Ford well starts, as described in the article text

Other key findings include:

Operators started drilling (spudded) 856 new wells in January through March 2012 compared to 407 in January through March 2011.

In early April 2012, the Eagle Ford active rig count set a new high of 217 units.

Increased drilling and rig deployment translated into higher crude oil and condensate production, which is projected to average over 500 thousand barrels per day (bbl/d) in April, up from 182 thousand bbl/d in April 2011.

Current Eagle Ford area natural gas production is about two billion cubic feet per day.

Horizontal wells accounted for nearly all of the new well starts so far in 2012.

Much of the drilling activity in the Eagle Ford is targeting both crude oil and wet natural gas resources.

Bentek estimates that in March 2012, Eagle Ford crude oil and lease condensate production was approaching crude oil production in the North Dakota part of the Bakken formation.

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Crude Oil Bounces Back After Two Days of Loses

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Crude oil [May contract] closed higher on Monday ending a two day decline off Wednesday's high but remains locked in March's down trending channel. The low range close sets the stage for a steady to lower opening on Tuesday.

Stochastics and the RSI remain neutral to bullish signaling that a low might be in or is near. Closes above last Tuesday's high crossing at 105.07 are needed to confirm that a short term low has been posted. If May renews the decline off March's high, the 38% retracement level of the October-March rally crossing at 97.84 is the next downside target.

First resistance is last Tuesday's high crossing near 105.07. Second resistance is the reaction high crossing at 105.49. First support is this month's low crossing at 100.68. Second support is the 38% retracement level of the October-March rally crossing at 97.84.

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ConocoPhillips Reports First Quarter Earnings

ConocoPhillips [NYSE:COP] today reported first quarter earnings of $2.9 billion, compared with first quarter 2011 earnings of $3.0 billion. Excluding $330 million of special items, first quarter 2012 adjusted earnings were $2.6 billion. Special items were primarily related to gains on asset dispositions, partially offset by impairments and repositioning costs.


“We operated according to plan during the first quarter of 2012, achieving production and refinery utilization targets,” said Jim Mulva, chairman and chief executive officer. “We continued to progress our asset divestment program and execution of our major projects and growth plans. We also accomplished several repositioning milestones, including obtaining a favorable IRS ruling and final board of directors’ approval. Beginning May 1, 2012, our company will become two leading, independent energy companies, ConocoPhillips and Phillips 66.”


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Sunday, April 22, 2012

Crude Oil Trades Near Three Days Highs on U.S. Economic Outlook

Crude oil traded near the highest close in three days before reports that may show a strengthening of the economy in the U.S., the world’s biggest crude consumer. Futures were little changed in New York after rising 0.2 percent last week. Consumer purchases that account for about 70 percent of the U.S. economy probably climbed by the most since the end of 2010, according to a Bloomberg News survey before an April 27 Commerce Department report. Iraq halted crude exports from northern fields because of a technical fault at a pipeline network in neighboring Turkey, the Oil Ministry said.

Crude for June delivery was at $103.77 a barrel, down 11 cents, in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange at 9:40 a.m. Sydney time. The contract rose 1.1 percent to $103.88 on April 20, the highest close since April 17. Front month prices are 5 percent higher this year. Brent oil for June settlement was at $118.63 a barrel, down 13 cents, on the London based ICE Futures Europe exchange. The European benchmark contract’s front month premium to West Texas Intermediate was at $14.85, from $14.88 on April 20.

Iraq’s crude exports stopped at 7:45 p.m. on April 21, the ministry said in a statement on the website of the official National Media Center yesterday. The nation normally exports 450,000 to 500,000 barrels a day from northern fields through Turkey. It ships most of its oil from the south on tankers sailing from the Persian Gulf.

U.S. consumer spending may have risen 2.3 percent last quarter, according to the Bloomberg survey. That would follow a 2.1 percent gain in the prior period. Gross domestic product rose at a 2.5 percent annual rate after advancing 3 percent in the previous three months, according to the median forecast in a separate Bloomberg survey before the Commerce Department’s April 27 release.

Posted courtesy of Bloomberg News

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