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

...

A great business will always have clients and will always get paid, says Justice Litle. That’s why Key Energy Services (NYSE:KEG), the world market leader in maintenance of oil and gas wells, is in a great position. The company is growing rapidly and has a healthy balance sheet. Best of all, it is hugely undervalued at today’s price, meaning a chance for investors to triple their money.

This from Taipan Daily:

Key Energy Services (NYSE:KEG) is the largest rig-based well service company in the world.

You could say the main job for a company like Key is to “keep the oil & gas flowing.” Once a well is drilled, that well has to be maintained and serviced throughout its life. This is what Key does.

It’s a great business

...

div align="justify"A blind monkey throwing darts would beat the average investment bank oil analyst, whether forecasting weekly inventory levels or the future oil price. At the peak of the historic investment bubble in oil futures back in July, they were falling over themselves to predict $170-200 oil in 2009. Now it's $25. Everyone from central bankers to the CFTC and leading economists (or 'misleading' economists as people like Paul Krugman should be labelled) claimed the price was based on fundamentals. They were wrong then, and they'll be wrong again. Back in May in a href="http://deadcatsbouncing.blogspot.com/2008/05/its-oil-price-stupidbut-for-how-long.html"span style="color:#cc0000;"It's the Oil Price Stupid, But for How Long More?/span/a (and right through the July peak) I was resolutely contrarian and wrote: /divdiv align="justify"em'Far from worrying about $200 a barrel oil in the foreseeable future, I would stress test my portfolio for sub $100 oil, which is far more likely from these levels. At a ...

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” Justice Litle thinks Dickens’ classic line  provides an apt description of today’s markets. Sure, this year has been hell. But it has also created some amazing opportunities for contrarian investors. Justice says this is most apparent in the oil and natural gas market, where irrational risk aversion has made most people forget the fundamentals.

This from Taipan Daily:

Mark my words. It will not be six months before the world tests Barack Obama like they did John Kennedy. The world is looking.

— Vice–President-Elect Joe Biden

Just a few weeks ago, Vice–President-elect Joe Biden (back when he was plain old Senator Joe Biden) promised the world that Barack Obama will be “tested” by America’s enemies.

“Remember I said it standing here,” Biden told his Seattle audience, “if you don’t remember

...

The Democrats are in a very strong position following Tuesday’s election. Andrew Snyder says oil majors like Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) and BP (NYSE:BP) will face higher taxes and stricter legislation. But offshore drilling experts with international exposure like Transocean (NYSE:RIG) remain an excellent long-term investment.

This from Today’s Financial News:

This cannot be good for the oil industry. There is a very left-leaning Democrat packing his bags and heading to Washington. The high-profit, we’ve-got-them-bent-over-a-table oil industry must be pinching itself hoping this is nothing more than a bad dream.

Unfortunately, it is real. Democrats now control the White House, the Senate, the House, the courts, our schools, and a large chunk of our nation’s banks. All that is left for us pro-business voters to do is pray they do not infiltrate the rest of Wall Street.

Over the next few years, the nation’s thriving businesses will face a strong headwind. Higher

...

Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) set a U.S. profit record today (Thursday) when it announced its third quarter profit topped $14.8 billion on record-high oil prices.

Exxon Mobil, the largest U.S. oil company, earned $14.8 billion, or $2.86 per share, a 58% increase from the $9.41 billion, or $1.70 per share it earned in the third quarter of 2007. Exxon Mobil’s record-setting profit was enough to beat analyst expectations of $2.38 a share, according FactSet Research data.

Exxon Mobil beat its own record for the largest quarterly profit for a U.S. company, which it had previously set in the second quarter of 2008 with a gain of $11.68 billion.

Royal Dutch Shell PLC (ADR: RDS.A, RDS.B) also announced third quarter earnings today, beating Bloomberg’s average analyst estimates. Europe’s largest oil company saw a 22% increase in profit to $8.45 billion from $6.9 billion in the same period the

...

Russia’s oil majors are putting pressure on the case for tax cuts in the oil sector, warning of a possible drop in output next year. Sibir Energy’s London High Court ownership dispute with Roman Abramovich has come out in the billionaire’s favor. Peter Mandelson has called to attention the ‘ultimate perversity’ of wasting energy in Russia, and suggested that the country could cut consumption by 45%. ONGC's bid to buy Imperial Energy is still under review by the Federal Anti-Monopoly Service, who believe it may limit competition. The vice president of Lukoil says that Russia should join OPEC. TNK-BP’s Robert Dudley says that Russia’s oil production has reached its peak.

When people ask me if I think crude oil is going to $50 or $150, I nod sagely and say: “Yes, probably.” I’m not being flip. I’m simply giving both the short-term and the long-term timeframes. Short-term, crude oil is probably heading lower, even though it’s nearly 60% off its highs. The last chance to hold the line on oil prices was at OPEC’s emergency meeting. And the oil cartel choked like a cat on a hairball. They cut 1.5 million barrels per day of production when they needed to cut about 3 million barrels per day. The OPEC meeting was the last obstacle in the way of deflationary forces that are driving oil prices lower in the short-term. Long-term, there are forces that should drive oil much higher. And one of ...

Brazilian stocks have been pummeled in October’s global market rout. But Martin Hutchinson says this has created a great opportunity for profits. South America’s largest economy still has a robust growth outlook and moderate inflation. He says these six “bargain basement” stocks are now well worth a look.

More from Money Morning:

Like most other markets, Brazil has been battered by the credit crisis – the BOVESPA index is currently down 28% in October alone and no less than 52% from its peak as recently as May. It now appears to represent excellent value, with a historic Price/Earnings (P/E) ratio of only7.0.

But are Brazil’s prospects good enough to justify investing there?

Brazil was included in the “BRIC” (Brazil, Russia, India and China) group of rapidly emerging markets that Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE:GS) created in 2003. At that time the country didn’t deserve the distinction. Long-term growth since

...

By Jennifer Yousfi Managing Editor ConocoPhillips (COP) is selling its remaining company-owned gas stations in the latest example of the changing face of the retail gas station business. According to unnamed sources, ConocoPhillips, the third-largest U.S. oil company and second largest U.S. refiner, plans to sell 600 company-owned gas stations to PetroSun West LLC for $800 million. The deal is expected to close today (Wednesday). "This transaction is designed to strengthen our branded wholesale business model and grow market share," said Clayton Reasor, President, U.S. Marketing of ConocoPhillips, MarketWatch reported. "We have worked with PetroSun before and believe that they will continue to enhance our brands and provide excellent service to our retail customers." ConocoPhillips operates domestic gas stations under the Phillips 66, Conoco, and 76 brands in the United States and JET brand in Europe. PetroSun plans to boost gas ...