Fuel Your Portfolio With BHP Billiton (NYSE: BHP): The Best-Run Commodities Company In The World

by Tony Daltorio, Investment U Research

Some companies just stand out – both in their own sectors and in the larger market.

Australian firm BHP Billiton (NYSE: BHP) is one of them.

As the largest and most diversified commodities producer in the world, BHP has leading positions in most key, low-cost, metal and mineral deposits in the world.

And as if that weren’t enough, it also has a solid position in oil, thanks to its petroleum division, which had operating profits of $4 billion last year.

Impressively, that total only made the petroleum division BHP’s third-best performer in 2008. Its iron ore segment scooped up $6.23 billion, while base metals enjoyed a $4.62 billion operating profit.

Crucially, that sets BHP’s oil division apart from its competitors. Not only

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Earlier this week, Chevron Corp. (CVX) – the second-biggest U.S. oil company – announced the discovery of a new offshore natural gas site (Achilles-1) in Western Australia ’s Carnarvon Basin . The discovery builds on the integrated energy giant’s leading position in this hydrocarbon-rich area and follows the Clio-2 and the Kentish Knock-1 finds in August. Drilled to a total depth of 4,500 meters, the Achilles-1 well encountered 100 meters of net gas pay. The find is situated in the WA-374-P permit area (in the Greater Gorgon region), 160 kilometers off the coast of northwest Australia . Chevron Australia has a 50% operated interest in the prospect, with the other partners being ExxonMobil Corp. (XOM) and Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDS.A). We believe that the latest exploration success will boost Chevron’s growth prospects in Australia by adding to its already significant gas interests in ...

AngloGold Ashanti Ltd. (AU), the world’s third largest gold producer, plans to expand output through exploration. The company aims to produce up to 6 million ounces annually, up from 4.98 million ounces in 2008, largely by improving its mines and expanding through exploration. AngloGold expects the dollar price of gold to rise. The company has forecasted gold prices of $950 to $1,100 per ounce in 2010. It expects gold prices to rise beyond $1,100 if the downtrend in the US economy continues and investment demand for gold increases further. Although electricity costs and new wage settlements have put pressure on the company's bottom line, it has no plans to lay off workers to save costs. AngloGold is also planning to develop its La Colosa project in Colombia. In July this year, AngloGold had teamed up with African miner Randgold Resources to buy Moto Goldmines, which owns ...

Australia has ambitions to dethrone Qatar as the world’s largest LNG producer by the end of the next decade. The Australian government’s current goal is the production of 60 million tons of LNG per year for export. The Australian government is looking to achieve their goal largely through the Gorgon LNG Project. In Greek mythology, a gorgon is a hideous monster, but this Gorgon is a ‘monster’ of liquefied natural gas project in Western Australia.

Gorgon’s network of fields is believed to hold as much as 50,000 billion cubic feet of gas and the 40-year project is expected to produce 15 million tons a year, which is equal to 8 percent of current global capacity.

The Gorgon project has already attracted ready and eager buyers for the LNG that will be produced. PetroChina, China’s largest energy company, agreed to buy $41 billion worth of Gorgon LNG over a 20 year time period.

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Yesterday, U.S. oil major Chevron Corp. (CVX) and its partners announced the final investment decision on the massive Gorgon liquefied natural gas (LNG) venture in Australia following the receipt of the necessary government approvals. The company said that its Australian subsidiary will proceed with the construction of the project later this year.   Chevron holds a 50% operated interest in the A$43 billion ($37 billion) project, with the other partners being ExxonMobil Corp. (XOM) and Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDS.A). The Gorgon gas fields, off the coast of Western Australia, are estimated to contain 40 trillion cubic feet of gas deposits and have an expected economic life of at least 40 years from the time of start-up. Chevron said that the venture will have an annual capacity to produce 15 million tons of LNG, with the first shipment expected in 2014.     The Gorgon project will

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Chevron Corp. (CVX), the second-biggest U.S. energy company, gained approval from the Australian environment ministry to start its Gorgon liquefied natural gas (LNG) venture on the Barrow Island nature reserve. The decision is subject to conditions on managing and protecting local fauna, especially the endangered flatback turtle.

Chevron holds a 50% operated interest in the $42 billion project, with the other partners being ExxonMobil Corp. (XOM) and Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDS.A). The government approval to Australia's single largest natural resources project paves the way for a final investment decision by the Gorgon joint venture participants, once they get the nod for production licenses and construction plans.

The Gorgon gas fields, off the coast of Western Australia, are estimated to contain 40 trillion cubic feet of gas deposits and have an expected economic life of at least 40 years from the time of start-up. Chevron said that the

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Base metals were (mostly) slightly higher on Thursday. Copper gained 6.35 cents to close at $2.2069/lb. Nickel fell by nearly 2 cents to finish at $6.7139/lb. Zinc was little changed, ending at $0.6780/lb. Aluminum rose by nearly a cent, closing at $0.7014/lb., while lead moved to $0.7319/lb., up more than half a cent from the previous session. Despite copper’s rise yesterday, there is renewed sentiment that Chinese demand (which boosted prices by more than half this year) will weaken as the slow seasonal consumption period approaches.

“The market is watching out for Chinese imports and stockpiles data and these will drive sentiment in the days ahead,” Jia Zheng, analyst at Southwest Futures Co., said yesterday.

“There is talk that around 100,000 tons of copper is making its way to LME warehouses in Asia in the next three weeks, and that is weighing a bit on sentiment,” said Jia.

China is expected to

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China has stopped stockpiling metals, according to reports in the Chinese media. Will this put the cap on the recent strength in base metals prices? The AFP reports that, “China has been building its inventories of metals, including 235,000 tonnes of copper, over recent months, Caijing magazine reported on its website over the weekend, citing Yu Dongming, an official with the state economic planner.”

“China also bought 590,000 tonnes of aluminium, 159,000 tonnes of zinc, 30 tonnes of indium and 5,000 tonnes of titanium, said Yu, who works in the National Development and Reform Commission’s industry department.” Now that metals prices have rebounded, though, will the stockpiling continue, even at high prices? Or was it a case of bargain shopping at everyday low prices?

There are several components of demand. There’s real economic demand (you need the stuff to make other stuff). There is investment demand (you’re buying it in order to

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by Christina Goldman
The Perth Mint which is located in Western Australia started minting the Australian Silver Lunar Coin in 1999 to start a series of mintage based on the Chinese Lunar Year. Thus, the complete Lunar Silver Coin collection would have as its basis the 12 animals which, according to Chinese legend, honored an invitation from Lord Buddha to visit him before he left this Earth.

The good Buddha had called all the animals but only these 12 obliged, so he rewarded these fortunate dozen by naming each of them in the cycle of the Chinese Lunar Year by the order by which they came: the rat was first and started the cycle, followed by the ox, the tiger, the rabbit or hare, the dragon, the snake, the horse, the sheep, the monkey, the rooster, the dog and the pig (or boar).

However, since the Australian Silver Lunar …

It was gold’s turn to shine during Thursday trading on the Canadian markets with investors running for cover in a sea of weak economic data. For the tale of the tape, the TSX Exchange fell 1.61%, while the TSX Gold Index surged 6.2% and the TSX Venture Exchange, Canada’s largest junior exploration bourse, added 1.22% with the advancing issuers beating out the decliners by a 396 to 318 margin on 120 million shares traded.

Iamgold (NYSE:IAG) produced 997,000 ounces of gold in 2008 at cash costs of between $455 to $470 per ounce. Production for 2009 is expected to hit 880,000 ounces of gold at an average cash cost of $470 to $480 per ounce. Iamgold closed up C$0.50 at C$8.42.

Bravo Venture tabled a 1.2 metre intercept running 1,672 grams silver and 2 grams gold per tonne at its Homestake Ridge project in northwestern British Columbia. Bravo ended the

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