A new World Bank report says that Russia is likely to bear the brunt of changes to regional climate brought on by global warming.  Gazprom, currently feuding with Rosneft over blocked access to energy infrastructure, may rework its 'tough line' of fining European customers that do not buy the minimum-stated amount of gas each month.  Rosneft has outlined plans for $6 billion worth of offshore investment for the next few years.  The question of Iranian nuclear capability continues to be debated in the press.  '[U.S.] administration officials claim to have won Moscow's agreement to join in sanctions should Iran refuse to make a deal,' says the Washington Post, but the paper is also running this Reuters story: 'the Kremlin said that sanctions against Iran are highly unlikely in the near future.' Naftogaz October gas bill from Russia is to be ...

Yesterday, Enterprise Products Partners L.P. (EPD) signed a long-term agreement with one of the largest and most active producers in the developing Eagle Ford Shale play in South Texas to provide natural gas transportation and processing services. The agreement covers more than 150,000 acres in the heart of the Eagle Ford Shale play. The partnership’s integrated network of energy infrastructure in the region is strategically positioned and well suited to accommodate the Eagle Ford Shale's extremely NGL-rich (Natural Gas Liquids) gas. The proximity of the partnership’s infrastructure to this shale play will require only modest capital expenditures for the partnership to start providing services under the agreement. The agreement reflects the partnership’s initiative for strengthening long-term position in the shale plays. Enterprise’s pipeline of growth opportunities is one of the best in MLP (master limited partnership) space. Like this agreement, the partnership’s operations are supported ...

MarkWest Liberty Midstream & Resources – a majority-owned joint venture of MarkWest Energy Partners L.P. (MWE) – yesterday announced the signing of definitive agreements with subsidiaries of Chesapeake Energy Corp. (CHK) and Statoil Hydro ASA (STO) to process gas at its proposed facility in Majorsville, West Virginia.   MarkWest Liberty is a partnership between natural gas pipeline operator MarkWest Energy Partners and energy infrastructure private equity fund NGP Midstream & Resources L.P. MarkWest has a 60% operated interest in the venture (remaining 40% owned by NGP) that has been formed to construct and operate natural gas midstream services to support producers in the emerging Marcellus Shale play in western Pennsylvania and West Virginia.   The new processing deals are in addition to a previously announced agreement with independent oil and gas company Range Resources Corp. (RRC) that was executed earlier this year. All three contracts include

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Quanta Services Inc. (PWR) recently agreed to acquire privately held Price Gregory Services Inc., a leading natural gas and oil transmission pipeline infrastructure service provider in North America, in a cash and stock transaction valued at about $350 million.

According to the deal Quanta will issue approximately 11.1 million shares of common stock worth $250 million, and will pay nearly $100 million in cash, subject to adjustment, to Price Gregory shareholders.

Price Gregory is a leading energy infrastructure services provider of its kind, specializing in the construction of large diameter transmission pipelines. Building on Quanta’s strength in electric power business, this acquisition strongly positions the company as a leader in the North American energy transmission infrastructure market and will help it to take advantage of the positive long-term outlook for the natural gas industry.

Price Gregory had revenue of more than $1.41 billion and earnings before interest, taxes,

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For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – August 28, 2009 – Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include: General Electric (GE), JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM), United Technologies Corp. (UTX), Tyco International (TYC) and Precision Castparts Corp. (PCP).

Get the most recent insight from Zacks Equity Research with the free Profit from the Pros newsletter: http://at.zacks.com/?id=5513

Here are highlights from Thursday’s Analyst Blog:

GE to Sell Security Business

General Electric (GE) is arranging to sell its security business, which makes alarms, surveillance systems and other safety products, and hopes to attract bids in the range of $2 billion for the unit. This move represents GE’s strategy

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Yesterday, Precision Castparts Corp. (PCP) announced its decision to acquire Carlton Forge Works and related entities for $850 million. Carlton, with one facility in Paramount, CA, is a leading manufacturer of seamless rolled rings for critical aerospace applications. Carlton is a key supplier for Boeing 787 and Airbus XWB. Precision Castparts will also acquire Arcturus Manufacturing Corporation, a hammer forging operation, as a part of this transaction.  The acquisition, which is expected to be completed in the third quarter of fiscal 2010, will further strengthen PCP’s forging capabilities. The transaction is expected to be immediately accretive to the company’s earnings. Precision Castparts derived 43.6% of its fiscal 2009 revenue from the Forged Products segment. The company is one of the leading manufacturers of forged components for the aerospace and power generation markets. The company has been expanding its Forged Products business through regular acquisitions. The previous ...

Jacobs Engineering Group, Inc. (NYSE: JEC): Stock of the Day

by David Fessler, Advisory Panelist

Usually when we think of infrastructure, visions of bridges, tunnels, buildings, industrial plants, come to mind. When talk turns to energy we think of oil, natural gas, coal, and nuclear power.

Yet the two are inexorably linked together: you need good infrastructure to move energy around, and you can’t create the infrastructure without good sources of cheap energy.

As the world continues – albeit ever so slowly – to wean itself off fossil fuels in favor of greener sources of energy, the two are increasingly talked about in the same conversation.

And for good reason… there’s much new “energy infrastructure” that needs to be created:

Higher capacity transmission lines to move mid-west wind generated power ...

The Energy Ministry is investigating ways of reducing taxes on undeveloped gas fields, having seen that even with high oil prices most projects would not be financially solvent.  Ukraine's energy company Naftogaz has said that to avoid the possibility of a gas suspension, European firms should consider buying Russian gas and storing it in Ukraine.  Russian gas exports to Europe via Ukraine fell 45.5% in January-May 2009, year-on-year.   The European Commission has cautioned Gazprom and Naftogaz to secure a long-term contract to maintain steady supplies of gas to Europe.  Sergei Lavrov has met with EU ambassadors and 'positively assessed Russian-EU cooperation' over this issue.  The FT reports that a lack of investment in modernizing the energy infrastructure of central and eastern Europe is an obstacle to guaranteeing upplies.  If oil rises to $90 a barrel next year ...

Last year when oil made its steady climb to nearly $150 a barrel, Supperlattice’s stock went from $0.34 to $2.55 in just two months for 650% gains. When oil prices began to descend, so did SLAT.OB. What makes Supperlattice’s stock price so strongly correlated with oil prices? The company is focused on developing and marketing next-generation lithium-powered batteries to replace gas powered engines.

With oil producers postponing and canceling major projects, many fear that oil prices will once again spiral out of control because of lack of supply when the economy turns around. Francisco Blanch, head of global commodities research at Merrill Lynch, wrote, “The current WTI crude oil price weakness may be setting the stage for another rally in crude oil prices as the world emerges from the recession. Delayed and canceled projects on energy infrastructure will only add to the same

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January 13 – We have to say that the pace of dour news slowed a bit this week, a trend that we are hopeful will continue. However, there is still much misery out there, and expectations are that the underlying fundamentals of the U.S. economy will continue to erode as businesses circle the wagons around their cash positions and remaining available credit, which will result in more jobs lost.

Our expectations for this recession are for it to run pretty deep in light of the fact that there is so much consumer infrastructure built in the U.S. which just needs to be shut down as consumers, we hope, begin finding more of a balance and start saving. Savings rates as a percentage of disposable income have fallen in recent years to 0.4% and when consumer credit gets factored in, it turns negative. This was an unsustainable pace. We are hopeful …