Stock Preacher

PetroChina announced today that it has agreed to pay US$1.7Bfor a majority stake in two Oil sands projects in northern Alberta in the latest of several Chinese investments to help develop the world’s second-biggest Crude Oil reserves. The two projects, known as Mackay River and Dover, are being developed by Athabasca Oil Sands, a privately held Calgary-based group. “Oil sands projects are very capital-intensive, long-term investments and difficult to fully finance in the traditional equity market,” Bill Gallacher, Athabasca’s chairman said on Monday. “therefore we decided to look for joint venture partners.” PetroChina will acquire a 60% stake in the two projects, but Sveinung Svarte, Athabasca’s chief executive, told the Financial Times that “both of us have to reach decisions on the major issues”. The bitumen-like Oil Sands have drawn growing interest from Chinese energy groups.

Popularity: unranked [?]

What the Financial Times of London described as “combative” US President Barack Obama warned last Saturday he was bracing for a fight against powerful lobbyists and special interests who sought to pick apart the US$3,550B (or US$3.55T) budget he wants to advance his agenda of reform.

Mr. Obama’s spending blueprint, with its massive US$1,170B (or US$1.17T) deficit and tax hikes on the wealthy, seeks to squeeze billions of US4s in savings out of current spending through competitive bidding among health insurers and ending subsidies and tax breaks for banks, agribusiness and oil companies. ”These steps won’t sit well with the special interests and lobbyists who are invested in the old way of doing business,” the president said in his weekly radio address.”I know they’re gearing up for a fight as we speak,” he said. ”My message to them is this: So am I.”

Popularity: 6% [?]

The world’s political and business leaders to meet more often to tackle the current economic problems

The world’s Political and Business leaders agreed at the Davos conference to come together more often to share the task of tackling the all the challenges of sinking consumer demand, to climate change.
Last weekend, the conference ended with no consensus on how to solve the world’s economic problems. The leaders are faced with a lack of confidence in western business, industry, and government, by people around the globe. In fact the it was reported in the Financial Times that the delegates “struggled to agree on a single answer to the crisis.”

It was reported that most executives agreed that more regulation was inevitable, but that the new regulations to be limited to, and designed to give business incentives to invest in the future and to stay focused on the consumer and on sustainable energy issues, and that more “collaboration” is necessary going forward.

Noting the theme of the 2008 forum: “The power of collaborative innovation”, contains much of what is required in theme of the 2009 forum, i.e. the shaping of the world, post financial crisis .
Lee McIntire, chief executive of CH2M Hill, an engineering and construction group, said: “Remember, we’re not always right at this conference. When I was here last year, what I kept thinking was, that if I could help my customers with water, energy and sustainability, I’d do really well profit-wise. . . The world has changed a lot since the last Davos forum.”

Trillions of US$s will have to be spent to bring confidence back into the system, thus bringing forth the question, where will this money come from?

Popularity: 11% [?]

Wednesday OPEC announced a record 2.2MM bbl a day cut on top of the recent 2MM bbl a day cut in an attempt to shore up falling Crude Oil prices.

With the additional cut OPEC tried to give maximum market impact to its action, making a confusing statement in which it said it was cutting production by 4.2m b/d from its September output level of 29.045MM bbl a day according to the Financial Times (London).

Crude Oil fell below $40bbl on the news, and for the first time in more than 4 years as OPEC failed to convince traders that the glut in Crude Oil (on the demand destruction) will diminish plus the US government said supplies climbed for the 11th time in 12 weeks.

Popularity: 3% [?]