I want to talk about the challenge of exponential growth in a finite world. This is a concept that while on its surface seems easy to get, most people don’t fully grasp it. Any growth rate that is positive will lead to a doubling in size eventually -- the higher the growth rate, the quicker the doubling. A quick "back of the envelope" method of figuring it out is known as the rule of 70. If you divide a growth rate into 70, it will roughly give you the time for something to double. Thus if something is growing at 2% a year, then it will double in about 35 years, at 5% only 14 years, etc. If you want to be more precise, you can always use your Y^x button on your calculator, but the rule of 70 will do for this discussion. Clearly, exponential growth ...

Bristow Group Inc. (BRS) has surprised on estimates 3 out of the last 4 quarters by an average of 10.50%. The company is trading at 11.7x forward earnings.

Company Description

Bristow Group is one of the largest providers of helicopter services in the world. Its primary customers are in the offshore energy industry in the North Sea, Nigeria, the Gulf of Mexico, Australia, Brazil, Russia and Trinidad. The company provides transportation, maintenance and search and rescue services.

Bristow Surprised by 39.39%

On Nov 4, Bristow Group reported its fiscal second quarter and surprised on the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 26 cents per share. Earnings per share rose 19.5% to 92 cents from 77 cents in the year ago period. Analysts were expecting just 66 cents.

Revenue was virtually unchanged from the second quarter of 2008 at $291.6 million compared to $291.7 million in 2008.

While the operating

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Canada-based Suncor Energy (SU) reported weaker-than-expected third quarter results, hampered by lower commodity prices and higher operating expenses in its oil sands business, partly offset by increased production resulting from the Petro-Canada acquisition. Earnings per share, excluding certain items, came in at 23 Canadian cents (22 cents), below the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 31 cents. In the year-ago period, Suncor earned 87 Canadian cents (83 cents). Revenues were down marginally (by 0.8%) to C$8.4 billion.     Operating Statistics   The company reported operating earnings of C$288 million, down 64.4% year over year, while cash flow from operations dropped 49.9% from the prior-year period to C$574 million.   Production   Upstream production during August and September 2009 averaged 630,600 barrels of oil equivalent per day (BOE/d). Of this, 289,400 BOE/d came from the Petro-Canada acquisition. During the third quarter, volumes from Suncor’s legacy oil sands and natural ...

Nexen Inc. (NXY) reported third-quarter recurring earnings of 21 cents (23 Canadian cents) per share, below the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 27 cents and lasts year’s earnings of $1.62 (C$1.68).

Production during the quarter, before royalties, averaged 214 thousand barrels of oil equivalent per day (MBOE/d), or 184 MBOE/d net of royalties, comprising 83% crude oil and 15% natural gas. Production before royalties was down 14% year over year, mainly due to turnarounds and maintenance activities at a number of fields. On a net-of-royalty basis, production was down slightly by 12% year over year to 184 MBOE/d.

While the quarter’s productions were hampered by the scheduled turnarounds on a number of the company’s fields, current production (275 MBOE/d) is increasing with the ramp-up of production at Ettrick, Longhorn and Long Lake. Management hinted that the fourth quarter production will be higher than the reported quarter level.

Nexen’s average oil price realization during

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Statoil ASA (STO) reported its third quarter results of 38 cents per share, compared to the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 40 cents and in line with the year-earlier quarter earnings. Revenue for the quarter was NOK 123.1 billion ($20.1 billion), down 29% year over year.  Though the company’s results were hurt by lower commodity prices, Statoil continues to maintain a high activity level both in Norway and internationally. Equity and entitlement productions were up 8% and 10% year over year, respectively, with the start-up of operations on several new oil and gas fields such as Tyrihans in the Norwegian Sea, Tune Sor in the North Sea and Thunder Hawk in the Gulf of Mexico.  Total oil and gas entitlement production during the quarter averaged 1.71 million barrels of oil equivalent per day (MMBOE/d), 62% of which was oil and 38% natural gas, compared to 1.55 MMBOE/d ...

Noble Energy Inc. (NBL) posted adjusted earnings per share of $1.10 for the third quarter, which surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 81 cents. However, earnings was substantially lower than $2.08 recorded during the corresponding period of last year. The better-than-expected results in the quarter were driven by increased sales volumes and reduced costs compared to the second quarter and the year-ago period.   Consolidated sales volumes improved 3% to 20 million BOE, i.e., 217 thousand BOE per day, primarily driven by increased volumes in the United States and West Africa. Volumes rose in the U.S. supported by ongoing development activity at Wattenberg, the return to full production of Ticonderoga, and the impact of the Raton gas project in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico. Reduced facility maintenance downtime helped increase natural gas volumes in West Africa. However, volumes declined in North Sea due to the Dumbarton performance. Daily ...

Schlumberger Limited (SLB) has reported its third quarter results. Diluted earnings per share from continuing operations were 65 cents, compared to the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 62 cents. However, operating earnings were lower than both the second quarter earnings of 68 cents per share and year-ago earnings of $1.25. The downtrend was primarily due to a decline in North American drilling activity and weak energy prices. Total revenue for the quarter decreased nearly 2% sequentially and nearly 25% year over year to $5.43 billion. Oilfield Services revenue was flat sequentially and down 22% year over year to $4.95 billion. WesternGeco revenue decreased more than 17% sequentially and 48% year over year to $463 million. The Oilfield Services revenue was flat sequentially due to certain geographic strengths that were offset by weaker pricing. Year over year decline was largely due to poor drilling activity in the ...

Earlier today, London-based oilfield contractor Acergy S.A. (ACGY) reported significantly better-than-expected third-quarter (ending August 31, 2009) results on the back of solid margins, strong operational performance, and good project execution skills. Earnings per share from continuing operations came in at 29 cents, well above the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 16 cents. Compared with the corresponding quarter of 2008, Acergy’s earnings per share was down 44.2%, reflecting the still tentative operating environment due to the commodity price and credit market overhang. In particular, business conditions remain challenging for the company’s relatively high-margin Sub-sea construction, Umbilicals, Risers, and Flowlines (SURF) activities, as macroeconomic concerns force the clients to delay their awards. Revenue & Operating Performance Revenue for the quarter fell 12.7% year-over-year to $558.3 million, primarily due to lower exploration and production activity levels in the North Sea and Brazil, partially offset by strong contributions from West ...

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ATP Oil & Gas Corporation (NASDAQ: ATPG) today announced that it has amended its agreement with COSCO Nantong Shipyard Ltd. (”COSCO”) to defer $99 million in construction cost for the Octabuoy hull. The deferral will be supported by a Letter of Insurance issued by the China Export and Credit Insurance Corporation (”SINOSURE”) to the benefit of COSCO. The Octabuoy, including the hull, topsides and related equipment, will serve as the floating production and drilling facility at ATP’s Cheviot field

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In our history, the American nation committed obvious sins against select groups of people, and we’ve paid bitterly for some of that. But now it’s our sins against the land itself that threaten to sink the USA as a viable enterprise.

It’s odd, that in his otherwise excellent blow-by-blow account (”Eight Days,” in the Sept 21 New Yorker Magazine) of the September 2008 Wall Street meltdown that left Lehman dead, and AIG croaking in a ditch, and the banking system in general functionally crippled, reporter James B. Stewart never got around to really describing the cause of it all — namely, the on-the-ground material catastrophe of American suburbia.

It was the worthlessness of the tradable securitized debt associated with all those overpriced (and overvalued) chipboard and vinyl houses, smeared recklessly over the American landscape, that started all the trouble in the first place. And it is our inability to come to

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