Last Thursday, we received a mildly bearish report from the federal government’s Energy Information Administration (EIA), showing a higher-than-expected rise in natural gas supplies. Stockpiles held in underground storage in the lower 48 states rose by 58 billion cubic feet (Bcf) for the week ended October 9. This takes the current storage level to a new all-time high of 3.72 trillion cubic feet (Tcf), which is up 13.8% from last year's level and 14.6% above the five-year range (as clear from the nearby chart from the EIA). Current stocks are 450 Bcf above last year’s level and 474 Bcf above the five-year average. The inventory addition was lower than the five-year-average injection of 64 Bcf and last year's build of 81 Bcf. The relentless increase in gas storage levels has meant that with three weeks remaining in the storage injection season, stockpiles ...

In its weekly release yesterday, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported a bigger-than-expected 69 billion cubic feet (Bcf) addition to natural gas stockpiles for the week ended October 2. This takes the current storage level to a new record high of 3.66 trillion cubic feet (Tcf), which is up 14.9% from last year's level and 15.1% above the five-year range (as clear from the nearby chart from the EIA). Current stocks are 473 Bcf above last year’s level and 480 Bcf above the five-year average. The inventory addition was lower than the five-year-average injection of 70 Bcf and last year's build of 87 Bcf.     The relentless increase in gas storage levels has meant that with four weeks remaining in the storage injection season, stockpiles are already 94% full. At this pace, by October 31, which is the end of the injection season, ...

The risk factors surrounding the nation’s oil industry are through the roof. The action is costing unprepared investors a lot of money. For proof, ask Delta Petroleum (NYSE:DPTR) shareholders.

Even a first grader can look at this market and know anything but fundamentals are driving the action. Fortunately for guys like me, few grade-school can figure out why.

These days, it is all about the macro-economy. More specifically, the only thing anybody cares about is the value of the dollar. When the greenback is up, the market is down (like today). When the dollar is weak, the market rallies – like last week.

There are several reasons for the trend: flight to safety, inflation, political risk… you name it.

What matters for us as traders is the pattern is unwaveringly true for the crude markets. With oil settlement denominated in dollars, the ever-important energy source is tied directly to the greenback.

The correlation

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Yesterday, we received a mildly positive report from the federal government’s Energy Information Administration (EIA), showing a less-than-expected rise in natural gas supplies. Stockpiles held in underground storage in the lower 48 states rose by 66 billion cubic feet (Bcf) for the week ended September 11. This takes the current storage level to 3.46 trillion cubic feet (Tcf), which is up 16.7% from last year's level and 16.4% above the five-year range (as clear from the nearby chart from the EIA). Current stocks are 496 Bcf above last year’s level and 487 Bcf above the five-year average. The inventory addition was lower than the five-year-average injection of 82 Bcf but slightly exceeded last year's build of 65 Bcf.     Overall, the relentless increase in gas storage levels continue to add to the long list of issues weighing on the commodity. At this pace, ...

After surging to almost one-year highs Wednesday, stocks took a step back as worries that the recent rally has gone too far, too fast resurfaced.  Investors pulled out profits even as latest round of upbeat economic data tried to convince them that a recovery is indeed underway.  Shares of companies that have led the recent advance failed to find favor amid a lackluster trading session.  Although the retreat was modest, it signaled a growing belief that the rally is overextended.

The Dow Jones industrial average declined 7.79 points, or 0.08%, to end the day at 9,783.92. The broad Standard & Poor's 500 Index retreated 3.27 points, or 0.31%, at 1,065.49 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index eased 6.40 points, or 0.30%, to end at 2,126.75.  On the New York Stock Exchange, declining shares beat those that advanced by eight to seven on volume of 1.52 billion shares.  At Wednesday's

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In its weekly release yesterday, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported a less-than-expected 69 billion cubic feet (Bcf) weekly addition to natural gas stockpiles for the week ended September 4. This takes the current storage level to 3.39 trillion cubic feet (Tcf), which is up 17.1% from last year's level and 17.4% above the five-year range (as clear from the nearby chart from the EIA). Current stocks are 495 Bcf above last year’s level and 503 Bcf above the five-year average.     The inventory addition was higher than last year's build of 63 Bcf and the five-year-average injection of 67 Bcf. The relentless increase in gas storage levels continue to add to the long list of issues weighing on the commodity. At this pace, inventories are on course to surpass the all-time high level of 3.57 Tcf recorded at the end of October ...

BP: British Petroleum. Big Profits

by Tony Daltorio, the Investment U Research Team

Not too long ago, seven major oil companies – commonly referred to as the Seven Sisters – controlled their market.

But that was then and this is now. Today, they’re scrambling to find new oil fields, while “smaller” companies rock the industry.

That’s why there’s been so much excitement over the recent discovery of a ‘giant’ oil field in the Gulf of Mexico by one of the Seven Sisters, British Petroleum ADR (NYSE: BP).

When international oil companies consider where to invest, they typically have to choose between technically straightforward fields in politically turbulent countries, or politically stable areas that require complex and costly production techniques.

Easily produced, accessible energy resources in secure countries just don’t exist anymore; the era of cheap oil is truly over.

But BP has a long history

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Plains Exploration & Production (PXP) has recently issued $400 million of 8.625% coupon bearing senior notes at 98.335% of the face value. The notes are due on October 15, 2019 and yield 8.875% to maturity based upon the initial offering price. Last month, it raised around $397 million by offering 17.25 million shares to public. PXP intends to utilize the proceeds for general corporate purposes, including funding a part of $1.1 billion payment due under the joint venture agreement signed with Chesapeake Energy (CHK) for sharing drilling and completion costs of Haynesville Shale wells.  PXP management remains focused on maintaining a strong balance sheet, keeping it financially flexible and adequately liquid. It ended the second quarter of 2009 with nearly $455.8 million of cash and $1.34 billion under its senior revolving credit facility. Debt-to-capitalization came down to 43% at the end of the quarter compared to 54% ...

Yesterday, in its weekly release, the federal government’s Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported another rise in natural gas supplies. Stockpiles held in underground storage in the lower 48 states rose by 65 billion cubic feet (Bcf) for the week ended August 28. This takes the current storage level to 3.32 trillion cubic feet (Tcf), which is up 17.3% from last year's level and 17.8% above the five-year range (as clear from the nearby chart from the EIA). Current stocks are 489 Bcf above last year and 501 Bcf above the five-year average.     The inventory addition was smaller than last year's build of 92 Bcf but exceeded the five-year-average injection of 64 Bcf. The relentless increase in gas storage levels continue to add to the long list of issues weighing on the commodity. At this pace, inventories are on course to surpass the ...

In its weekly release yesterday, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported a bigger-than-expected 54 billion cubic feet (Bcf) weekly addition to natural gas stockpiles for the week ended August 21. This takes the current storage level to 3.26 trillion cubic feet (Tcf), which is up 18.8% from last year's level and 18.1% above the five-year range (as clear from the nearby chart from the EIA). Current stocks are 516 Bcf above this last year and 500 Bcf above the five-year average.       The build was smaller than last year's 100 Bcf build and the five-year-average injection of 67 Bcf. However, the relentless increase in gas storage levels continue to add to the long list of issues weighing on the commodity. Natural gas prices rallied earlier last year, reaching over $13 per million Btu (MMBtu) in July 2008, before trending down. Prices have since dropped ...