CNOOC Ltd. (CEO) expects to sign a deal with Norway’s StatoilHydro ASA (STO) soon to buy stakes in some deepwater exploration blocks in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico (GoM). StatoilHydro is putting five prospects on the market, out of its more than 400 leases in the U.S. GoM. The company had acquired these assets, with 100% working interest, in 2007 and 2008 lease sale. This deal could mark the introduction of China's foray into the U.S. GoM. The GoM remains one of the most abundant areas of the world for oil discoveries, with billions of barrels of crude believed to be trapped beneath the seabed. Chinese companies are pursuing assets acquisitions abroad to cope with the country’s increasing demand for oil and gas. But they are facing difficulties in tying up deals partly because the oil-rich countries want greater control over their resources. We ...

I’m moving to China … possibly to live in a bunker. At least that was my inclination after listening to a presentation by Jim Rogers yesterday.

Now don’t get me wrong―Mr. Commodities wasn’t all doom and gloom. In fact, his talk was both informative and highly entertaining. But Rogers doesn’t sugarcoat things―he’s very matter-of-fact about his concerns and projections for the future. And most of them don’t bode well for the U.S.

I’ll be posting an interview with Jim Rogers on the site in the coming week, but for now, I just wanted to offer some highlights from his speech at ETF Securities' mini-conference and the Q&A that followed.

1. The 21st century belongs to China

According to Rogers, the 19th century was the era of the British Empire and the 20th century was the

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Tiny Texas Oil Company Hits $2.8 Trillion Discovery A microcap company from Dallas has discovered 40 billion barrels of crude oil. The haul is worth $2.8 trillion. It’s one of the biggest oil discoveries in history. And one company now owns the right to every drop. It’s about to bring this oil to market. Investors who get in beforehand could earn 4,620% gains. But the really amazing thing is where this oil is located. For complete details, please go here.

The U.S. trade deficit expanded at its fastest pace in more than ten years in July, accelerated by rising oil prices and increased demand for auto parts and industrial supplies.

The gap between imports and exports rose 16% – the largest percentage increase since February 1999 – to $32 billion in July from a revised $27.5 billion in June that was larger than previously reported, the Commerce Department said. After …

ConocoPhillips (COP) recently received approval from federal officials to pull a collection of North Slope oil and gas leases into a new oil-field unit, a predecessor to development and production. For this purpose, the company partners with Anadarko Petroleum (APC). The leases are in the National Petroleum Reserve (Alaska) and on the western side of Alaska's North Slope. The new oil-field unit, named Bear Tooth Unit, includes 23 leases and approximately 105,000 acres, located northwest of the company’s Mooses Tooth Unit. The company said that both the units have sites of known oil discoveries. While production from the Mooses Tooth Unit is expected to commence sometime between 2012 and 2014, Bear Tooth would be online later. ConocoPhillips has recently relinquished a few leases that do not fit within its strategic plan based on the potential for commercial development. ConocoPhillips has significantly transformed its asset ...

Leave it to the government. It’s proposing a “tax and cap” regime for energy producers which will require fossil-fuel generating plants to pay extra.  The idea is to encourage clean fuels and discourage dirty ones. That’s fine in theory. But instead of helping our future energy situation, it’s going to make it a lot worse.The price of oil has already doubled in the past six months to over $60 per barrel. But it’s just the beginning of oil’s next gigantic price surge. If you thought that oil was ridiculously expensive last summer, you haven’t seen anything yet.

It doesn’t matter whether you believe in “Peak Oil” because this isn’t about Peak Oil coming to fruition. Peak Oil believes that oil discoveries have peaked leading to oil production’s inevitable decline.

This crisis will be strictly man-made. Governments and oil companies have already planted the seeds of the next great energy crisis. And there’s

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by Taipan Greene

How to invest in oil is a subject of interest to many traders in a world economy that is largely driven by the price and availability of products derived from products obtained from crude oil, like gasoline, diesel fuel, jet fuel, plastics, and fertilizer.

It is hard to imagine a world in which these products are extremely expensive or not widely available but that could be the case within a few years.

The term Peak Oil is one that most investors are now aware of. Yet the meaning of peak oil is widely misunderstood. Peak Oil does not mean that the world is nearing a time where there is no oil available. Rather it refers to the rapidly developing situation in the production of oil where the major oil fields of the world are in a state of production decline and even with new technology no major …

In the energy market on Wednesday, oil erased early losses that drove it below $33, with crude for March delivery closing at $43.55, up $2.71. March reformulated gasoline rose 3 cents, to $1.20/gallon.

Crude rose “amid hopes OPEC [members] will succeed in cutting production close to their quota,” said Nimit Khamar, analyst at Sucden Financial Research.

However, a more important factor may have been that, “The market has been in an extraordinarily large contango that is not sustainable long-term and a good portion of the increase is due to the March contract closing on the other contracts,” said James Williams, of WTRG Economics.

Also factoring in was a report from Mexico’s state oil company Pemex that its oil production fell 9.2% to average 2.799 million barrels per day in 2008.

“The production declines are due to the maturity of the company’s main oil field, Cantarell, and to the difficulty in completely offsetting

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Geo-political tensions are mounting in the global energy game. And that could make investing in oil right now the trade of the year, says Manraaj Singh. Buying shares of oil majors is a good move now. But Manraaj says quality mid-sized oil companies are best placed to return big profits in the next oil bull run.

This from Fleet Street Invest:

Israeli tanks have just rolled into Gaza…Almost three thousand miles away, Nigerian separatist blew-up an oil pipeline over the weekend…Meanwhile, Russia is locked in a dispute over the price of gas with Ukraine. Today they stopped deliveries of natural gas to Ukraine, Turkey and Europe to force the Ukrainians to pay up…

While fears about political instability drive the price of oil back up again, the OPEC oil barons are tightening the screws on global oil supplies…Oil was trading at just $35 per barrel on Christmas Eve. It’s over $50 this

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Swedish oil company PA Resources struck oil at its Didon North prospect offshore in Tunisia. Logging and pressure data prove the presence of an oil column of 14 metres.br /br /The discovery confirms the exploration potential in the Zarat area, where oil discoveries have been made at the Zarat and Elyssa as well as at Didon.br /br /PA Resources is operator and has 100 percent of the Zarat permit, but Tunisian state oil company ETAP can acquire up to a 55 percent working interest if a discovery is deemed commercial.

Horacio Marquez says the credit crisis is giving investors another chance to profit from Brazil’s long-term success story. The country is rich in natural resources, has a solid banking system, and a strong economic outlook. He recommends buying the iShares MSCI Brazil Index (NYSE: EWZ) in increasing increments over the coming 8 weeks.

This from Money Morning:

Brazil’s economy has been given a second chance. And so have prospective investors.

Brazil will use that second chance well – shouldn’t we?

Although there are a number of ways to play this promising “BRIC” (Brazil, Russia, India and China) market, including some excellent companies, the best way to capitalize on Brazil’s terrific prospects is through the iShares MSCI Brazil Index (NYSE: EWZ).

Brazil’s Shrewd Game Plan for the Current Financial Crisis

Vale (ADR NYSE: RIO), formerly known as Companhia Vale Rio Doce, is the largest exporter of iron

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