Dave Brown has worked for over a decade in the capital markets and wealth management industries. Having spent over seven years working within the Portfolio Management division of the largest privately owned mutual fund company in Canada he was most recently occupied in a more intimate sized high net worth boutique located in Toronto. Dave’s open and closed ended trust fund mandates and structured product offerings have included both international and domestic equities and he has been writing on mining investment opportunities for Resource Investing News since 2008. He received his formal training in both geography and education from Brock University. As an active community member, Dave has volunteered and been active for 12 years in various committees serving a number of roles with Family and Children’s Society and also as treasurer and newsletter editor for a local chapter of UNICEF.
The Energy Information Administration (EIA) forecasts that increasing consumption in 2012, led by strong growth in the electric power sector, should contribute to higher prices and to an economic incentive for producers to resume drilling.
New Brunswick Premier David Alward concluded a meeting with Arkansas Governor Mike Beebe in Washington, D.C., with a rekindled desire to take a deeper look at shale gas development in New Brunswick. Three New Brunswick cabinet ministers recently flew to Arkansas to examine the state’s handling of the shale gas industry.
The recent deal represents the biggest investment to date by a Chinese company in the North American energy sector, appearing to balance demand to develop gas fields at a time when low commodity prices are not providing companies with enough cash flow efficiently. The agreement could underscore greater exposure for resource companies to eventually export shipments to offshore markets.
Total began searching for a new joint venture partner to take a share of a shale gas exploration permit in France. The zone covered by the French permit obtained in March 2010, could contain up to 2,380 billion cubic meters of gas, this amount estimated by multiplying the average gas level in the area by the surface area.
Poland’s reserves of shale gas may be as much as 3 trillion cubic meters, according to estimates by geologists and energy consultants, potentially making the country a net exporter of gas and reducing Europe’s dependence on Russia.
In recent history, gas prices have generally followed a relatively seasonal pattern with prices rising during the summer driving season and falling after Labor Day. However, 2010 has seen a reversal in this pattern; the national average price has risen by 30 cents per gallon since Labor Day, the largest increase over that period since the 1990 inception of Energy Information Agency (EIA) weekly published retail gasoline price data. The current average price range in the US for the third week of December of approximately $2.98 per gallon is the second highest on record, eclipsed only by the 2007 average price reaching $3.00 per gallon.
On Tuesday, Richard Bernstein, Chief Executive Officer at Richard Bernstein Advisors LLC (RBA) offered bullish commentary for the broader energy sector for 2011: “if the economy is indeed beginning to enter the mid-phase of the cycle, then energy and materials stocks begin to take leadership positions. We expect both global sectors to outperform in 2011.”
Last month news reports out of China surfaced that the nation might see its natural gas supply fail to meet 35 percent of the demand in 2011, and the shortage could persist through 2021.
China has an enormous gas market to be filled, both in the short term and long term, where natural gas will account for as much as 12 percent of the primary energy needs over the next decade from the current 3.8 percent. Shell’s Chief Financial Officer Simon Henry indicated that the company may invest $1 billion each year in China if PetroChina’s two wells in Sichuan province prove they have the potential for commercial gas production.
Disciplined capital allocation and efficient operations have been the primary catalyst for strong results. The year has been very good for Vero Energy shareholders as prices have increased 49% since the beginning of the year to its current trading range at $6.63 per share.
