San Antonio, Texas-based Valero Energy Corporation (VLO) is the largest independent refiner and marketer of petroleum products in the U.S., with 3.1 million barrels per day in refining capacity in its 16 refineries located throughout the U.S., Canada and the Caribbean.Our continued favorable view for Valero shares reflects the company's strong financial health, balanced refining portfolio and leverage to the still-wide crude quality spreads. We believe that these attributes position Valero to navigate the current cyclical downturn much better than many of its independent refining peers.Shares of independent refiners, Valero included, have been under pressure since the second half of last year due to continued margins pressures. While we are cognizant of these headwinds, we cannot close our eyes to the underlying strength of the U.S. refining scene. We believe that the upside potential far outweighs the downside risks from current levels....

Oando has won the Nigerian Stock Exchange Presidential Merit Award for the Best Quoted company in the Downstream Petroleum Marketing Sector. It also won the award in2001, 2003, 2004 and 2006. br /br /Oando is clearly showing the way with its adherence to post-listing requirements and corporate governance. br /br /Oando’s is Nigeria’s foremost integrated energy company. It is the nation’s leading oil retailer, with one in every five litres of petroleum products being sold or distributed by Oando via its 500 retail outlets.

In the energy market Wednesday, oil plunged, with crude for December delivery dropping back through the $70 mark to close at $65.30/barrel, down $5.23. December reformulated gasoline fell 10.8 cents, to $1.4244/gallon.

“The election is over, and with it election fatigue, and the uncertainty every election brings,” said Anthony Sabino, of St. John’s University.

“Now, the inexorable pull of a recessionary economy, tight credit, lack of consumer spending, and increased conservation (and alternative fuels) will continue to pressure oil prices down, down, down,” Sabino wrote.

The Energy Information Administration’s weekly petroleum inventory report found few changes. After climbing 22 million barrels in six weeks, crude stocks were unchanged. But gasoline supplies moved higher, adding 1.1 million barrels.

Distillate inventories rose 1.2 million barrels, which refineries were operating at 85.3% of capacity, unchanged from the previous week.

Total demand for petroleum products over the past four weeks averaged almost 19.1 million barrels per day, down

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The following paragraphs come from the latest newsletter by Nouriel Roubini’s RGE Monitor. The article provides a thought-provoking summary of the key issues facing the global economy.

“The financial wildfire has turned around the stagflationary trends seen earlier this year into a vicious cycle of global deflation in debt, assets, wages, and goods. Headline consumer inflation has peaked in most of the developed and emerging world, except in places where food/fuel subsidies were recently rolled back or post-Q3 data are still unavailable. According to the IMF’s October World Economic Outlook, the world’s average consumer prices have increased 6.2% y/y Q2 2008. JPMorgan expects world CPI inflation to slow to 2.6% y/y

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Andrew LahdeAndrew Lahde | Hedge Fund Closure LetterPast Post: Andrew Lahde | Andrew Lahde Capital Hedge Fund NotesI just received this note and letter from a trader in the industry after noticing that over 2,000 people today had read my former post on Andrew Lahde and his Lahde Capital Fund. Here is Andrew's fund closure letter with a short intro courtesy of Portfolio:Andrew Lahde, manager of a small California hedge fund, Lahde Capital, burst into the spotlight last year after his one-year-old fund returned 866 percent betting against the subprime collapse.Last month, he did the unthinkable -- he shut things down, claiming dealing with his bank counterparties had become too risky. Today, Lahde passed along his "goodbye" letter, a rollicking missive on everything from greed ...

In the energy market Thursday, oil sank below the $70 benchmark, with crude for November delivery plummeting to close at $69.85/barrel, down $4.69. November reformulated gasoline fell 16 cents, to $1.622/gallon.

In its weekly inventory report, the Energy Information Administration said that crude supplies rose 5.6 million barrels for the week ended October 10, bringing the total gain to 18 million barrels over the past three weeks.

Gasoline supplies climbed 7 million barrels, for a 3-week gain of 15.1 million barrels, while distillates dropped another half million barrels, and are now down 10.2 million barrels in seven weeks.

Demand for all petroleum products over the past four weeks averaged 18.6 million barrels per day, down 8.9% from the same time a year ago, the EIA said, while motor gasoline demand averaged almost 8.8 million barrels per day, down 5.2% year over year.

“Gasoline production and imports are significantly outpacing gasoline demand,” wrote

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Did you know that the Indian government imposes a cess on indigenously produced crude oil? The Oil Industry Development Act, 1974 based on which the cess is being charged, states that “the cess collected under this provision would be made available to the development of petroleum sector”. The cess was introduced to provide financial assistance to state-owned oil companies, and is not applicable to private oil producers.

Since then, the government has collected Rs.74972.36 crore as cess, but only Rs.902

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Now, this one is an interesting situation. The Indian government likes to tom-tom the oil subsidy bill as a proof of its socialistic credentials; the media targets the government for unfairly subsidising the expenditure of the middle class; and most economists lay the blame at the door of the government for distorting the free market mechanism of price determination via these subsidies.

There are three duties/ taxes collected by the government on the sale of petroleum products. The state governments collect the sales tax while the excise and custom duties go into the kitty of the central government.

 

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(P.S: Sorry for any disturbances the advertisements above may have caused you)If late-2004 and early-2005 are remembered for the corporate debacles of CAO, Citiraya and ACCS, the later part of 2005 will be remembered for the attention that centered on oil and refining. The catalyst was Hurricane Katrina, which was the worst-ever storm to hit the Gulf of Mexico and caused extensive damage to the refining facilities in the region, exposing the deep global capacity crunch in refining capacity.Katrina formed over the Bahamas in late August 2005 and due to the unpreparedness of the authorities, caused severe destruction along the Gulf of Mexico coast from central Florida to Texas in the form of a Category 5 storm, with the most severe loss of life and property damage occurring in New Orleans. Of more interest to oil traders was the damage to ...

Overseas Shipholding Group recently raised its dividend by 40% as shipping rates remain high. The company has surprised on estimates 2 out of the last 4 quarter by an average of 5.14%. Overseas Shipholding has a price-to-book (P/B) of only 1.1.

Company Description

Overseas Shipholding Group, Inc. (OSG), headquartered in New York City, transports crude oil and petroleum products around the world with a fleet of 121 vessels.

As of June 30, 50% of the ships were company-owned, with the remaining bareboat or time chartered in. 35 vessels are also in the newbuild program.

The company, a Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy), is a member of Tankers International, Aframax International and Panamax International, which are commercial pools of similar size and quality vessels with different ship owners.

The fleets are combined to act as a single fleet, which members believe improves customer service and vessel utilization

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