Chevron (CVX) is one of the largest energy companies in the world and engages in several businesses like exploration and production of oil and natural gas, refining, transportation, trading and chemicals. The company competes with other established oil producers like Exxon Mobil (XOM), ConocoPhillips (COP), BP (BP) and Anadarko (APC). Our price estimate at Trefis for Chevron stands at $102, which is about 5% ahead of the market price.

Continue reading Oil Price Outlook Adding Upside to Chevron Stock

Oil Price Outlook Adding Upside to Chevron Stock originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 16 Feb 2011 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Oil recently traded at $91.00 per barrel and many analysts are looking for $100 per barrel. Against that backdrop, global oil companies are ramping up exploration to record levels for 2011.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Barclays (BCS) estimates that spending on new wells, producing platforms and other energy infrastructure will total $490 billion in 2011, an increase of 11%.

Continue reading Rising Oil Prices Prompt Record Spending on Exploration

Rising Oil Prices Prompt Record Spending on Exploration originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 02 Jan 2011 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

OPEC, which is responsible for 35% of world's oil production, has left output quotas unchanged at 24.85 million barrels a day.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) forecasts worldwide demand at 88.8 million barrels a day for 2011, up from 87.1 million bpd this year.

Oil has rallied 25% this year. OPEC profits are estimated to be higher by 35% to $750 billion. Recent oil prices have hovered between $80 to $90 per barrel.

Continue reading OPEC: Output Targets Unchanged

OPEC: Output Targets Unchanged originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 12 Dec 2010 09:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

OPEC's most recent report on global oil supplies said that the world has "no room" for more crude supplies.

OPEC lowered estimates for world demand and raised predictions for non-OPEC production. Here are the numbers:

• While world demand is forecast to rise by 940,000 barrels per day (bpd) in 2010, this is 10,000 bpd lower than previously estimated.
• Non-OPEC production is set to rise by 640,000 bpd, up from 530,000.

Continue reading OPEC: The World Has 'No Room' for More Oil Supplies

OPEC: The World Has 'No Room' for More Oil Supplies originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 09 Jun 2010 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Chasing Value: Transocean Runs Deep

Chasing Value: Transocean Runs Deep originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 12 Apr 2010 10:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Thursday morning, it was announced that British petroleum firm BP (BP) will pay $7 billion for a group of Brazilian assets held by American firm Devon Energy (DVN). In exchange, Devon will receive half of BP's Kirby assets in Alberta, Canada for $500 million.

BP believes the its entry into Brazil will "add a major position in another attractive deep-water basin." BP will dish out $7 billion for interests in 10 exploration blocks in Brazil, 240 leases in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico deep water, and a nearly 6% stake in an Azerbaijan development. As a result of the deal, BP will have complete control of the Kaskida field in the Gulf of Mexico.

Continue reading BP Purchases $7 Billion in Assets from Devon Energy

BP Purchases $7 Billion in Assets from Devon Energy originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 11 Mar 2010 11:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Royal Dutch Shell's (RDS.A) profit fell a whopping 75% in the fourth quarter. Earnings came in at $1.18 billion.

Shell's profit margins were hit by slower fuel demand caused by the worldwide recession. There were also increased costs from refinery start ups in the Middle East and Asia.

Continue reading Royal Dutch Shell's Profit Collapses

Royal Dutch Shell's Profit Collapses originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 04 Feb 2010 11:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

OPEC oil ministers agreed to keep production unchanged. Saudi Arabia has made it clear that it does not want oil prices to fluctuate too much, fearing that it would stunt the fragile recovery of world economic growth. They want to keep prices in the $70 to $80 per barrel range.

The key problem for OPEC is adherence to output quotas. At present, member adherence is about 60%. Oil demand is on the weak side. Edward Meir of MF Global said: "We suspect the ensuing price bias will be to the downside."

Continue reading OPEC's Ministers Keep Oil Output Unchanged

OPEC's Ministers Keep Oil Output Unchanged originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 22 Dec 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Consider Schlumberger, because oil isn't going out of style

Consider Schlumberger, because oil isn't going out of style originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 18 Nov 2009 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

You can tell the oil market's in rough shape when companies are drilling more to pull in smaller profits. This is the situation in which Halliburton (NYSE: HAL) finds itself, with lower energy prices pushing down the cash that comes through the door.

So, its revenue was up for the most recent quarter, but earnings were down. The $262 million that came to the bottom line is 61% lower than the profit for the same quarter the year before.

Continue reading Halliburton earnings plunge 61%

Halliburton earnings plunge 61% originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 18 Oct 2009 10:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

OPEC oil ministers want to see a stable U.S. dollar and higher oil prices before they start to increase investment. OPEC maintains that because oil is priced in U.S. dollars it wants the U.S. to keep the dollar stable.

But these are secondary problems. The main thorn in OPEC's side is Russia. Russia has overtaken Saudi Arabia as the world's biggest oil exporter.

Unlike OPEC that is trying to keep a lid on production, Russia has increased production to a record 10 million barrels per day. Russia and other non OPEC countries were not invited to attend the OPEC meeting.

Continue reading OPEC vs. Russia: Power struggle in the oil market

OPEC vs. Russia: Power struggle in the oil market originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 10 Sep 2009 11:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Murphy Oil is meeting production estimates

Murphy Oil is meeting production estimates originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 26 Aug 2009 15:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The unemployment numbers just came out and showed that the U.S. economy lost 467,000 jobs last month. That was the trigger for the oil traders. Within a few minutes oil dropped $2.02 per barrel to $67.19 at 9:07 EDT.

Adding fuel to the decline was the report that gasoline stockpiles rose by 2.9 million barrels, but crude dropped 3.7 million barrels.

Continue reading Oil gets hammered: Crude drops to $67.00 per barrel

Oil gets hammered: Crude drops to $67.00 per barrel originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 02 Jul 2009 11:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Oil prices fall on economic concerns

Oil prices fall on economic concerns originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 22 Jun 2009 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Given oil's recent run-up, at times it appears that all oil/natural gas plays have been bid-up, but Devon Energy (NYSE: DVN) hasn't and it's worth a review.

Devon's shares were rudely treated by the Street from mid-2008 to early-2009, following the collapse in oil prices. Some of it was justified, due to the large, likely decline in FY 2009 revenue stemming from crude's price collapse. But valuing DVN with a p/e of 6 or 7 is a tad low, given the company's assets, hence the Buy rating that has been generated here.

Continue reading Devon Energy: Well-positioned for higher oil prices

Devon Energy: Well-positioned for higher oil prices originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 27 May 2009 18:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Why is there conflicting information coming out of the oil patch? One minute we hear that there's an oversupply of oil sitting in supertankers offshore. Now Saudi oil minister Ali Naimi says that higher consumption in China is driving up prices. He further states that the world economy has recovered enough to sustain $75 to $80 per barrel oil. Is some of this just hype ahead of tomorrow's OPEC meeting?

We should keep in mind, however, that markets do not always move on fundamentals. Very often "perception" plays a bigger role. Prices have recovered from $32.70 in February to $63 per barrel recently. Much of this increase, even Mr. Naimi concedes, is due to speculation.

Continue reading Ahead of OPEC meeting, Saudi minister sees oil prices rising

Ahead of OPEC meeting, Saudi minister sees oil prices rising originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 27 May 2009 12:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Oil rises despite OPEC decision

Oil rises despite OPEC decision originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 16 Mar 2009 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Put yourself in the shoes of the OPEC ministers meeting this weekend in Geneva. They will be sitting down and discussing the current supply/demand for oil in the coming months. The world is in crisis and OPEC has cut oil production several times over the past year. Now they must decide again what to do.

Here are some cold facts. OPEC expects oil demand to fall by 1 million barrels per day in 2009. That in itself is not so unusual, but now look at the one. Demand growth from developing countries is shrinking by 80% compared with last year. There is a glut of oil in storage and in tankers around the world, with estimates of a 57-day supply. This excess supply is unusually high by OPEC's standards.

Continue reading Should OPEC cut oil production again at Sunday's meeting?

Should OPEC cut oil production again at Sunday's meeting? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 14 Mar 2009 08:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Here are several reasons why we may see things stay as they are. First and foremost is that OPEC members "talk the talk" but they all do not "walk the walk." For example, Saudi Arabia has cut production by 16% since September but Iran cut its production only 4.3% and Venezuela cut its production by 8.3%. So as usual OPEC has difficulty holding each of its members to an agreed upon reduction.

Continue reading Has the oil price slide ended?

Has the oil price slide ended? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 10 Mar 2009 15:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

"Long term, supply remains the key issue to watch in the crude oil market; depressed prices continue to force producers to scale back on exploration and development spending," says energy expert Elliott Gue.

In The Energy Strategist, he says, "I watch oil service giant Schlumberger (NYSE: SLB) as a gauge of overall health in energy markets; it has its hands in just about every imaginable oil- or gas-producing market on the planet."

"Schlumberger's fourth quarter earnings release and conference call were far and away the most bearish from the company in at least five years.

"CEO Andrew Gould was notably downbeat, particularly during the analysts' question and answer (Q&A) session. Predictably, earnings estimates have plummeted since that call.

Continue reading Schlumberger: 'Best of breed' in oil services

Schlumberger: 'Best of breed' in oil services originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 16 Feb 2009 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.