Russia's Energy Minister and the EU Energy Commissioner have signed a memorandum establishing an early warning mechanism to anticipate potential gas cuts and allow time to find solutions to problems before deliveries are physically affected.  But the memorandum may be useless, suggests one analyst, as the decision to cut supplies lies with Gazprom, which has already criticized the European Union for not doing enough to head off another gas crisis this winter.  Russia may participate in the reconstruction of Ukraine's pipeline network, but Yulia Tymoshenko insists that the system will not be privatized.  Iran is not pleased with 'dishonest' Russia, after the latter said that 'technical reasons' were behind its announcement that the Bushehr nuclear plant would not be ready by the end of the year as planned.  The IAEA is continuing to press ...

According to Abdulla Salatt, chairman of the company’s fertilizer unit (QAFCO), Industries Qatar–the country’s largest firm by market cap–will increase production of urea (used as a nitrogen-release fertilizer) and related products to supply growing global demand with a specific focus on South America, and in particular, Brazil.  “We are thinking of sending more products to Brazil because it is a big agriculture country, consuming a lot of urea, and we see their appetite for urea opening up year after year,” Sowaidi told reporters.  The company is currently contemplating a proposed $610 million plant which would increase urea production to 5.6 million tons/year by 2012, up from the current rate of 3 million.  Upon completion the fertilizer unit would hold 15% of global urea production, say analysts.  Urea has the highest nitrogen content of all solid nitrogenous fertilizers in common use (46.7%).

The company overall is still reeling from recession,

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Magnum Hunter Resources Corp. announced today a three-year, senior secured, revolving credit facility with the Bank of Montreal (BMO). This new $150 million bank facility will be regulated via a semi-annual redetermination of its borrowing base, whose value will be allocated to MHR’s proved crude oil and natural gas reserves.

MHR, and its subsidiaries, is an independent oil and natural gas exploration and production company based in Houston, Texas. Focused on leveraging the expertise of its management team to create maximal value for its shareholders, MHR enjoys an annual ROI of approximately 37%. The price of shares jumped 11% in early trading this morning on news of the commitment of the new bank facility.

With an initial sum of $25M in borrowing based on the market value of its crude oil and natural gas assets, which may be realized through acquisition or discovery as time progresses, a commitment ceiling of

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Founded in 1986, Royale Energy, Inc. is an independent energy company with headquarters in San Diego, California. They focus on the development, acquisition, exploration, and production of natural gas and oil in California, Texas, and the Rocky Mountains. For more than 20 years, the Company has been a leading independent producer of oil and natural gas. Royale Energy Inc. trades on the OTC Bulletin Board.

The Company’s main lines of business include the production and sale of natural gas and oil, and the acquisition of oil and gas interests and proved reserves. Their business also includes drilling of exploratory and developmental wells and sales of fractional working interests in the wells they drill. Royale Energy owns wells and leases in California’s Sacramento and San Joaquin basins, Utah, and in the Gulf Coast basins of Texas and Louisiana.

On Thursday, October 15, 2009, Royale Energy, Inc. announced that after reaching a total depth

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Brigham Exploration Company (BEXP) announced results for one of its wells in the Bakken Shale today, prompting a 7% gain in its share price and securing a spot on the Zacks #1 Rank Top Performers List.

< ?DART(15);?> In addition to this company-specific news, BEXP is also getting a hand from an improving outlook for oil stocks as oil prices have finally broken out of its trading range.

Brigham Exploration is an independent exploration, development and production company that utilizes advanced exploration, drilling and completion technologies to systematically explore for, develop and produce domestic onshore oil and natural gas reserves.

It's 1 of 3 companies from the Oil-U.S. Exploration & Production industry on today's Zacks #1 Rank List, which includes 215 stocks in total. The other 2 names are Linn Energy, LLC (LINE) and Plains Exploration & Production Company (PXP).

Earnings estimates

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Qatar is a red-hot economy. Last year it grew around 18% and this year it ought to grow another 16%. We saw the headlines in the Gulf Times in the lounge while waiting for our transfer to Dubai.

Qatar’s greatest asset is its natural gas reserves. In fact, the largest gas field in the world is here. Its discoverers were disappointed when they found it in 1971. They were looking for oil.

The boom Qatar now enjoys is the result of some daring investments in liquefied natural gas (LNG) back when people thought doing such a thing was a little batty. Faisal Al Suwaidi, the head of Qatargas, deserves the props for his wager, which have paid off handsomely. Today, Qatar produces about one-quarter of the world’s natural gas.

Qatar supplies such faraway customers as Japan, India and China. Qatargas also operates the largest LNG terminal in Europe at South Hook on

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The past 18 months have taken a serious toll on normal supply and demand in many industries. But no industry was impacted more than energy…

Oil peaked at $147 per barrel in July 2008 — right before the house of cards came crashing down on the global economy. Once banks started to fail and credit dried up, other businesses slowed production and laid off workers. This created a massive trickle effect on the overall economy.

Big corporations and individual consumers alike were using less energy. That meant the prices of every energy-related commodity plummeted.

This spring, things started to turn around… The unemployment rate quit falling at such a rapid rate. Inventories were too low in many industries, creating a ramp up in production again. Energy prices climbed…

Since the start of this year, the price of crude oil has nearly doubled. In just the last six months, heating oil jumped as much as

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China’s largest integrated oil company, PetroChina Company Ltd. (PTR), has started operations at the $4 billion Dushanzi refining and chemical complex in the Xinjiang province. The complex consists of a refinery and an ethylene plant, with a capacity of 10 million ton and 1 million ton a year, respectively. The refinery, which processes high-sulfur crude oil, will increase the company’s total refining capacity of 2.58 million barrels per day (as of 2008). The company estimates that the project may generate approximately $8.8 billion in annual revenue. Most of PetroChina’s crude oil and natural gas reserves and production-related assets are located in northeastern, northern, southwestern and northwestern China. With the start of this refinery complex, the company is able to import and refine crude oil in the west part of the country. As per the Chinese government’s data, the country’s fuel demand may rise 4% in 2009. ...

Warren Resources, Inc. (WRES) is a top-performing Zacks #1 Rank company for Friday with shares that have advanced approximately 12%.

< ?DART(15);?> WRES is an independent energy company engaged in the exploration and development of domestic oil and natural gas reserves. It is part of the oil-U.S. exploration & production industry, which is very well represented in today's Zacks #1 Rank List.

The 8 other companies on this list are Arena Resources, Inc. (ARD), Brigham Exploration Company (BEXP), Carrizo Oil & Gas, Inc. (CRZO), Concho Resources Inc. (CXO), EV Energy Partners, L.P. (EVEP), Plains Exploration & Production Company (PXP), Stone Energy Corporation (SGY) and Vanguard Natural Resources, LLC (VNR).

Volume for WRES today is at 1.15 million shares, well above the daily average of around 370,000.

Earnings Estimates

Earnings Estimates for WRES have been trending steadily

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Energy XXI (Bermuda) Limited (EXXI) Gulf Coast, Inc. (the “Company”) today September 4, 2009 announced it has commenced an exchange offer and consent solicitation in respect of its 10% Senior Notes due 2013 (the “Senior Notes”).

The Company has commenced an offer to exchange up to $360 million principal amount outstanding Senior Notes properly tendered (and not validly withdrawn) and accepted by the Company for its newly issued 16% Second Lien Junior Secured Notes due 2014 (the “Second Lien Notes”), subject to proration and reduction to $311 million principal amount of Senior Notes, depending on the aggregate principal amount of Second Lien Notes sold in a concurrent private placement.

About Energy XXI

Energy XXI is a Houston-based independent energy company engaged in the acquisition, development, exploration and production of oil and natural gas reserves in the U.S. Gulf Coast and the Gulf of Mexico. The Company an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of the

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