An interview with Marin Katusa, Casey Research

In the past three years, Marin Katusa, senior energy analyst at Casey Research, has become one of the most respected and listened-to authorities in the investment advisory business. He spends the bulk of his time on airplanes and in far-off places studying the future of energy… and the best ways to make money from it.

Brian Hunt, editor in chief of Stansberry’s free online investment digest, The Daily Crux, interviewed Marin to get his take on where oil prices are headed for the long-term… the regions where investors and traders should focus their dollars… and some of his favorite energy companies with massive upside.

The Daily Crux: Marin… we noticed you guys at Casey Research are bullish on energy. Can you explain to us why?

Marin Katusa: Well, as we’ve mentioned in our Casey

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Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad has said that some countries have offered to provide Iran with uranium enriched to 20% for peaceful use as nuclear reactor fuel.  In a move to decrease energy consumption, Russia plans to ban the production and sale of all kinds of incandescent light bulb from January 1, 2014.  Gazprom hopes to take a 10% share of the US natural gas market within five years.  The company's deputy CEO, Alexander Lebedev, has apparently also said that it plans to gain a 25% share of the global market by 2020.  Bloomberg reports that the gas giant is in talks with Petroleo Brasileiro SA on joint operations.  Lukoil has said that it has no corroboration of reports that its partner, ConocoPhillips, may halve its stake in the Russian company.  Russia and Bolivia may establish ...

While prices of gold don’t necessarily affect silver prices or vice versa, history has demonstrated that when gold rises or falls, silver usually follows suit.

This time around, silver has failed to match the gains that gold posted in recent months, spawning a widespread believe that silver is poised for a bull run. Such factors as a decline in supply and a weakening U.S. dollar have buttressed that bullish belief. And so has the fact that China’s government is strongly encouraging that country’s residents to buy the white metal.

With Beijing’s plan to inject $587 billion (4 trillion yuan) into China’s economy, and a growing desire to diversify away from the U.S. dollar as its key reserve currency, the Asian giant could increase its reliance on such precious metals as gold and silver – especially if global inflation takes hold.

China’s central bank “could use gold, silver or even a basket of

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Repsol YPF S.A. (REP) recently found a huge gas resource in shallow waters of the Gulf of Venezuela. The largest integrated oil and gas company in Spain said that the offshore field had an estimated area of 33 square kilometers and was 60 meters deep.

Along with its exploration partner Italy's Eni SPA (E), Repsol estimates that the discovery could hold between 7 and 8 trillion cubic feet of gas. This equals to more than five years of gas consumption in Spain.

While the two companies will have a 32.5% interest each in all future productions, Venezuela's state-owned oil company Petroleos de Venezuela SA would hold a 35% stake.

Repsol is targeting stable production growth driven by pipeline projects in Venezuela, Trinidad and Tobago, Libya, Bolivia, Argentina and Ecuador. Long-term growth is expected to come from opportunities in Trinidad and Tobago, Algeria, the US Gulf of Mexico,

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The New York Times has an interesting piece, complete with map, about Russia's shrinking linguistic empire, as various former Soviet states make moves to restore native languages within officialdom.  This kind of linguistic nationalism can be seen everywhere from the Basque Country to Quebec to Bolivia to China, and shouldn't be taken out of context.  

Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez is known for his erratic behavior, but his latest move to extend official recognition to Georgia's separatist regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia during his visit to Moscow is a bit of a head-scratcher.  In theory, it shouldn't come as a surprise, as probably the strongest predictor of Chávez's future behavior is anything perceived to be contrary to U.S. interests.  That includes sometimes illogical policies and relationships, such as red carpet welcomes for Sudan's Omar al-Bashir, cooperation with Iran on missile and nuclear technology, hugs for Alexander Lukashenko of Belarus, and tea parties with Coronel Muammar Qaddafi. 

What is strange is that Chávez waited a whole year before joining up with his surrogate state

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Spain’s largest integrated oil and gas company, Repsol YPF, S.A. (REP), will pay Venezuela $203 million to exploit the Barua-Motatan oil field. Repsol took the minority share of this oil field, which includes 432 square kilometers, after lawmakers voted for the transfer of that area to Petroquiriquire, a joint venture between Repsol and the Venezuelan Oil Corporation (CVP), a unit of Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA. Repsol has been pursuing talks for several years on acquiring an interest in Barua-Motatan, located near Petroquiriquire’s Mene Grande oil field in western Venezuela. Petroquiriquire was formed in 2006 as a 60-40 joint venture between PDVSA and Repsol to operate the Mene Grande oil field. With the addition of this field, the current production of 25,000 barrels per day could increase up to 100,000 barrels per day. Management is targeting stable production growth, driven by the company’s pipeline ...

Today, medical device company INVO Bioscience, Inc. announced the signing of three distribution contracts in South and Latin America. The company, focused on treatment options for patients diagnosed with infertility, is looking to the Daxley Group to distribute INVO Bioscience in Columbia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Panama, Mexico, Brazil, Chili, Argentina and Uruguay. Daxley also distributes for Medicult, Conception Technologies, Biogenics and Rocket Medical, all who offer infertility treatment products in said countries. INVO Bioscience’s patented product, the INVOcell, allows for vaginal incubation of eggs, sperm and early embryo development during the infertility treatment process.

Dr. Claude Ranoux has been invited to attend a meeting of the Association of Columbian Fertility and Sterility on August 22nd. Dr. Ranoux will lecture and hold a training seminar on the INVO procedure for over 17 OB/GYN’s and embryologists from South America. This training will allow them the capability of performing the INVO procedure in their facilities.

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Andrei Illarionov: "Interest in Venezuela - this is part of the big strategy"

Grigory Pasko, journalist

President of Russia Dmitry Medvedev recently carried out visits to the countries of Africa. Before this we observed his voyage to the countries of Latin America. What is this intense interest of the Russian president in such faraway countries brought about by? Why not seek friends and partners in business closer to Russia? Medvedev himself said it this way: "...We did not devote that much attention to sufficiently faraway continents, ones such as Africa, Latin America, but now we are simply duty-bound to do this. This is our close-in-spirit neighbors, this is countries that we really have helped and which, on the

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On June 24, auto parts maker ArvinMeritor (ARM) announced that it will sell its entire ownership interest in two joint ventures under its Light Vehicle Chassis Systems business.The first joint venture -- Meritor Suspension Systems Company (MSSC) -- is based in North America and involves the manufacture and sale of automotive coil springs, torsion bars and stabilizers. The second one -- Gabriel de Venezuela -- manufactures shock absorbers, struts, exhaust systems and suspension modules for countries such as Venezuela, Colombia, Chile, Bolivia, Peru, and Ecuador.ArvinMeritor's sale of both the 57% in MSSC and the 51% stake in Gabriel de Venezuela will lead to a divestiture of 45% of the company's Chassis Systems business.ArvinMeritor's light vehicle market is exposed to the cyclical aberrations of the auto industry. Weak demand in the light vehicle segment (33% of sales) in both North America ...