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 ...

Repsol YPF S.A. (REP) recently found a huge gas resource in shallow waters of the Gulf of Venezuela. The largest integrated oil and gas company in Spain said that the offshore field had an estimated area of 33 square kilometers and was 60 meters deep.

Along with its exploration partner Italy's Eni SPA (E), Repsol estimates that the discovery could hold between 7 and 8 trillion cubic feet of gas. This equals to more than five years of gas consumption in Spain.

While the two companies will have a 32.5% interest each in all future productions, Venezuela's state-owned oil company Petroleos de Venezuela SA would hold a 35% stake.

Repsol is targeting stable production growth driven by pipeline projects in Venezuela, Trinidad and Tobago, Libya, Bolivia, Argentina and Ecuador. Long-term growth is expected to come from opportunities in Trinidad and Tobago, Algeria, the US Gulf of Mexico,

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Spain’s largest integrated oil and gas company, Repsol YPF, S.A. (REP), will pay Venezuela $203 million to exploit the Barua-Motatan oil field. Repsol took the minority share of this oil field, which includes 432 square kilometers, after lawmakers voted for the transfer of that area to Petroquiriquire, a joint venture between Repsol and the Venezuelan Oil Corporation (CVP), a unit of Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA. Repsol has been pursuing talks for several years on acquiring an interest in Barua-Motatan, located near Petroquiriquire’s Mene Grande oil field in western Venezuela. Petroquiriquire was formed in 2006 as a 60-40 joint venture between PDVSA and Repsol to operate the Mene Grande oil field. With the addition of this field, the current production of 25,000 barrels per day could increase up to 100,000 barrels per day. Management is targeting stable production growth, driven by the company’s pipeline ...

U.S. President Barack Obama has opened the door to a broader relationship with Cuba by loosening travel and communication restrictions. But will pressure from numerous Latin American states and a promise to usher in a new era of cooperation and dialogue in the Western Hemisphere ultimately result in the revocation of the 47 year-old trade embargo? And what would it mean if the Cuban trade embargo were actually abolished? President Obama has already loosened several restrictions enacted by his predecessor George W. Bush. Prior to his arrival at the Summit of the Americas in Trinidad and Tobago last weekend, Obama relaxed restrictions on travel to Cuba, making it easier for Cuban Americans to visit and transfer money to relatives on the island. “There are no better ambassadors for freedom than Cuban Americans,” Obama said in a campaign speech last year. “It’s time to ...

You've got to hand it to the Spanish - while their friends in France, Germany, and even Italy get twisted up in the bickering with other EU members over common energy policy and relations with Russia, the Iberian peninsula often appears to be blissfully unaware and uninvolved. After all, as they are geographically beyond the reach of Moscow's pipeline arteries, they enjoy a diverse supply of natural gas from Norway, Algeria, and the spot market at LNG terminals. As such Madrid has not really had to worry that much about Gazprom's encroachment on various companies and assets critical to security of supply (not to mention the trafficking of influence). In a recent interview with the Economist, two-term Socialist Prime Minister José Luís Rodríguez Zapatero did not mention Russia or energy even once, ...

A few things today.There is a new frontier market CEF from Morgan Stanley that has ticker FFD. Here is a little bit of info, here is a little more but for now the MS page has no info to speak of.According to the Yahoo News release, linked above, frontier can include Bahrain, Bangladesh, Botswana, Bulgaria, Croatia, Ecuador, Estonia, Ghana, Jamaica, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kuwait, Latvia, Lebanon, Lithuania, Macao, Mauritius, Namibia, Nigeria, Oman, Panama, Qatar, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Slovenia, Sri Lanka, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates and Vietnam.The money was just raised so the fund owns nothing yet. It may take a while to deploy ...