Register for free to join our community of investors and share your ideas. You will also get access to streaming quotes, interactive charts, trades, portfolio, live options flow and more tools.
Register for free to join our community of investors and share your ideas. You will also get access to streaming quotes, interactive charts, trades, portfolio, live options flow and more tools.
Top execs paid too much for this 92million dollar market company. They're milking the share holders.
CEO should not be paid 300k at this point. Company needs successful drug prior to the big bucks salary.
With salaries this high success is not needed for drugs supposedly "in pipeline".
http://finance.yahoo.com/quote/NNVC/profile?p=NNVC
236T568...The pattern is being repeated. Thanks much.
There is a short bio on Richard Granville above the message board entries and in it is stated:
--------
"From 1998 to 2000, Mr. Granville also served as the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Grace Development, Inc., a public telecommunications company serving customers in the southeast. Mr. Granville took the company to nearly a billion dollar market cap before he was succeeded by Ben Holcomb the former President of Bell South International in Feb. 2000."
--------
I looked up "Grace Development, Inc." and the only publicly traded company which came up by that name had the symbol, GCDV, and the value of it was $00.001 per share:
http://www.marketwatch.com/investing/stock/GCDV/profile
I could find no further info on a public telecom company called, "Grace Development, Inc."
I did find a telecommunications company called, "Gracecom", located in Colonie, New York:
http://www.gracegroup.com/index.php
grace group in New York, however, does not appear to be a publicly traded company. I do not think that this is the company that Mr. Granville led many years ago.
It would be nice to know if a publicly traded telecom company named, "Grace Development, Inc.", really does exist and if it is still worth nearly a billion dollars (hopefully more by this time) or just what happened. Perhaps it was bought out by another telecom in the southeast. "Grace Development, Inc." is a strange name for a telecommunications company. It sounds more like a commercial real estate developer.
Anyone have more insight into this?
Thanks.
FANTASTIC POST. THANK FOR WARNING.
PROP stock has been drifting downward since 2011. The technology which this company has was available to oil producers when the price of oil was above $100 for a long time. So why should PROP stock price ever go up if it did not do well when the price of oil was high? What difference will it make if the price of oil goes up significantly to the success this stock? It appears to me that PROP has had its chance when times were good but still failed as a stock. I'm wondering if other tried and true techniques for improving oil production are more cost effective than the technology from PROP.
Now if they can figure out a way to implant their wave producing devices permanently into oil wells so that production may be improved when needed then PROP may have lots of success. As it stands now rods must be pulled from the well which makes it very pricey to apply the treatment. This must be done anyway whenever a well is serviced for the purposes of improving production with other techniques. If the wave producing device from PROP can be implanted permanently into an oil well immediately after the well is drilled or after a single "pulling" of an existing well then it will have a very hot item. But pulling the rods out of a well once a year for repeated treatment with PROP technology is an expensive way to keep oil production higher. This is why the price of oil so drastically affects this stock. Even if improved oil production by treatment of PROP technology occurs the price of oil must be high enough to justify the cost of treatment. It may be more cost effective for a lot of oil companies to simply shut an oil well down when prices are low until oil prices recover and then have PROP treat the well with its technology to increase production. Or else use another technique such a a fracking treatment to improve production which might be cheaper and longer lasting even though production per day may be less. If a fracking treatment which might be cheaper increases production at a lower rate per day but lasts for more than a year then what advantage does technology from PROP really offer whose treatment only lasts a year? These comparisons do not seem to be addressed to shareholders by PROP and very much should.
This company needs to show its possible customers and current shareholders the differences in cost between its technique for improving oil well production and traditional techniques such as fracking and how long after a treatment the traditional techniques are effective as compared to PROP's.
PROP stock has been drifting downward since 2011. The technology which this company has was available to oil producers when the price of oil was above $100 for a long time. So why should PROP stock price ever go up if it did not do well when the price of oil was high? What difference will it make if the price of oil goes up significantly to this stock. It appears to me that PROP has had its chance when times were good but still failed as a stock. I'm wondering if other tried and true techniques for improving oil production are more cost effective than what technology from PROP offers.
Now if they can figure out a way to implant their wave producing devices permanently into oil wells so that production may be improved when needed then PROP may have lots of success. As it stands now rods must be pulled from the well which is very pricey to apply the treatment. This must be done anyway whenever a well is serviced for the purposes of improving production with whatever technique is used. If the wave producing device from PROP can be implanted permanently into an oil well immediately after the well is drilled or after a single "pulling" of an existing well then this could become a very hot item. But pulling the rods out of a well once a year is very expensive for repeated treatment with PROP technology in order to keep production high. This is why the price of oil so drastically affects this stock. Even if improved oil production by treatment of PROP technology occurs the price of oil must be high enough to justify the treatment. It might be more cost effective for a lot of oil companies to simply shut an oil well down when prices are low until oil prices recover and then have PROP treat the well with its technology to increase production; or use another technique such a fracking to do the same thing which might be cheaper; we don't know.
This company needs to show its possible customers and current shareholders the differences in cost between its technique for improving oil well production and traditional techniques and how long after a treatment the traditional techniques are effective as compared to PROP's.
Why did the stock go up today? Is there still hope? eom.
tom8oes....
Jesus told the disciples before being crucified that they would scatter:
John 16:31-33
"Do you now believe? Indeed the hour is coming, yes, has now come, that you will be scattered, each to his own, and will leave Me alone. And yet I am not alone, because the Father is with Me."
Jesus praying to the Father concerning the disciples:
John 17:9
"I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours.
Jesus praying for the disciples to be protected from "the world" after he is crucified and resurrected and ascends to heaven:
John 17:14-20
"I have given them Your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify the by Your truth. As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth. I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who BELIEVE in Me through their word;...
There is a time of judgement:
2 Peter 3:8-10
But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is long-suffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.
Hebrews 2:3
...how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation,...
Hebrews 4:1-3
Therefore, since a promise remains of entering His rest, let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it. For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them; but the word which they heard did not profit them, not being MIXED WITH FAITH in those who heard it. For we who have believed do enter that rest, as He has said, "So I swore in My wrath 'They shall not enter My rest,' although the works were finished before the foundation of the world.
There are many many more verses with far more austere warnings of judgement from the New Testament to those who do not believe in Christ. The above verses are some of the more "positive" ones.
Read, read, read the Bible. It's the only hope.
The Lord bless America.
tom8oes......
You wrote: "(theology) The doctrine that all of humanity was redeemed through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ...."
Jesus brought redemption to the world but each person has to believe in Christ and accept Christ forgiveness for his/her sins before he/she can go to Heaven. I'm not sure what you meant by "all of humanity". Of course there is enough forgiveness to go around for all humanity to be saved but very few people as a percentage of the total world population truly accept Christ forgiveness from their heart and therefore enter into His peace.
But I fully agree with that you when Jesus said, "It is finished", that HE meant HE had just fulfilled all prophecy and brought in a new covenant. He did, however, predict the destruction of Israel which happened in 70 a.d. Other than that one event, Biblical prophecy goes no further other than at the very end the wheat will be separated from the chaff; in other words, the great judgement, and we don't know when that will be.
HIIGUY...Just read the book. I used to think your way too. No more. Not for a second.
HIGUY>>>Read this book:
"The Apocalypse Code" by Hank Hanegraaff. He soundly disproves many of the modern christian views on "end times prophecy". Hanegraaff is a christian who has illustrated in his book how the books of Daniel, Matthew, Revelations and other parts of the Bible have been grossly misinterpreted with regards to "end times prophecies" by many many christians. Jesus, Himself, prophesied the destruction of Jerusalem which happened nearly 4 decades (70 a.d.) after HIS death and resurrection. But lots of modern christians mistakenly think that Jesus was referring to the 20th and 21st centuries which is clearly not what He was doing. I'm not saying that there will never be a big battle one day in the middle east. But predictions of such a battle DO NOT come from the Bible.
You can buy the book at amazon or at Hank Hanegraaff's website: equip.org.
"And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die."
Jesus Christ (Matthew 11:26)
The "massive pay cut" scenario is an obvious emergency act which should have been done by mgt. last winter. If big wig pay cuts hadn't happened by then, then it just wasn't going to happen which means it isn't going to happen now either. Management's refusal to consider pay cuts to its exorbitant salaries in the face of dwindling company revenues and fewer business prospects months ago should have been the big tip-off to shareholders at that time that their investment in this company was NOT a priority to the powers that be. I fear we've been used folks. Seems to be the penny stock way. I guess it's back to the good ol' ETF's and mutual fund type of investing. You potentially lose a lot less that way.
Big truck sales (diesel trucks that pull 52 foot long trailers) are up 20% over last year. Increased truck sales is supposed to be a predictor of a good economy 6 months out. We'll see. Hopefully an economy that keeps improving, however slowly, will prevent oil prices from bottoming out further. We'll find out real quick I'm afraid.
In the video auto report at the link below truck sales are reported when the time gets to 4:13 . I don't know if this link will take you directly to the report. If it doesn't you will have to scroll down to the July 14, 2015 report labeled in bold black letters, AD #1657, to the upper left of that particular film window. Again the time is 4:13 when it gets to the truck report.
Hope HIIT can survive.
http://www.autoline.tv/daily/
Why hasn't management informed stock holders that its handling of debt was leading to default?
Kind of outrageous.
Correct link to "Rising U.S. Oil Demand..."
Sorry folks. On an earlier post I put in the wrong link to an article.
Here's the right one:
From Forbes:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/judeclemente/2015/06/21/u-s-oil-demand-in-2015-and-beyond/
U.S. Oil Demand Rising:
From Forbes:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/judeclemente/2015/06/17/why-biofuels-cant-replace-oil/
Windough, I would not predict a price on HIIT. Nothing at all is certain about this company's future.
stlogic; Hope mgt reads ur post. eom.
Break even: $27/bbl
This article claims that due to rapid cost cutting the new break even point for oil production has dropped from $70 to $27/bb.
Excerpt:
...............In fact, the start-up costs of a fracking well are the major contributors to that $70 per barrel breakeven point. By extending the life of wells, shale oil producers have slashed their costs..................
........................ Analysts now estimate that the breakeven point of new shale oil wells is $27.50 per barrel, not counting financing costs.................
Full Article at below link:
(Note: The above excerpts are well into the article and located under the major heading of "American Ingenuity Kicks In".)
http://oil-price.net/en/articles/low-oil-price-met-with-american-ingenuity.php
Interesting video and article on oil price:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-06-15/longest-oil-glut-in-decades-looms-as-opec-pumps-up-market-share
I disagree with the article when it says that Saudi Arabia is trying to put pressure on shale producers in the U.S. by pumping more oil. I think that Saudi Arabia is pumping more oil to:
1. Keep from losing market share...period.
2. Keep its neighboring terrorist countries from making big oil profits to fund an
attack on Saudi Arabia.
Thank you windough. I agree. eom.
windough-shopper would you please remove my last post (#4862) from the board? I would appreciate it if you would be kind enough to do that.
Thanks.
OK...thanks Aqua. good analy. eom.
AquaMan...good analysis. But what if lots of new customers are being acquired that we don't know about yet? You left out that possibility. We can always hope can't we?
I'd rather be in the dark for a while and wait for legitimate info to come out than to see HIIT make irrelevant press releases in an attempt to encourage/assuage share holders. Press releases coming out of management that don't mean anything would concern me a more than not hearing anything at all.
The company got eight new customers the first quarter. Without knowing how that compares to other quarters, on face value it seems promising to me. If the company can keep its head above water till the next "oil boom" happens then its stock price should rise with the tide. I think everyone would agree with that.
What concerns me the most right now is the overall economy. It is currently shrinking. Also, big rig truck sales have suddenly taken a drop which is supposed to be a predictor of a weakening economy six months out. So what I'm thinking is that the stock market may take a big drop sometime too in the next few months as it reflects the economy. The world economy usually follows the U.S. economy. All said, it would not be good for the price of oil.
Just my thoughts. Who really knows what's going to happen.
The Lord bless.
Thanks.
Oklahoma. Isn't that HIIT territory?
Looks like Oklahoma is hanging in there.
http://www.upi.com/Business_News/Energy-Resources/2015/05/04/Rig-data-show-Oklahoma-beats-North-Dakota/7661430738103/?st_rec=8871430743497
Rig data show Oklahoma beats North Dakota
Exxon subsidiary holds the most wells in the Bakken shale.
By Daniel J. Graeber Follow @dan_graeber Contact the Author | May 4, 2015 at 7:55 AM
Oklahoma has more rigs in active service than North Dakota, a state at the heart of the U.S. shale oil boom.
BISMARCK, N.D., May 4 (UPI) -- Oklahoma has 20 percent more rigs in active service than North Dakota as shale activity in the United States evolves, state data show.
XTO Energy, a subsidiary of Exxon Mobil, is the largest operator of active wells in North Dakota, with 14 percent of the 86 active wells in the state at the heart of the nation's oil boom. Overall, the number of rigs in service in North Dakota is down 7.5 percent since the start of April.
Last year, XTO said it owned 531,000 net acres in North Dakota and gross production in February 2014 was 44,516 barrels of oil per day. Federal data show state oil production in February 2014 was 953,000 bpd, about 24 percent below the current rate.
The low price of oil is forcing energy companies to spend less on exploration and production in an effort to control costs. Continental Resources, the No. 2 well operator in North Dakota, last year said its acreage in the so-called SCOOP basin in Oklahoma was a "significant" part of its growth strategy.
Energy consultant Wood Mackenzie said the Oklahoma shale area was on par with the Eagle Ford basin in Texas and Bakken with production expected to pass 1 million barrels of oil equivalent per day by 2020.
Data from oil field services company Baker Hughes show 108 active rigs in Oklahoma and all of them are exploring for oil. Oklahoma is the No. 5 oil producer in the nation. Wood Mackenzie said investments in the region should top $4 billion for 2015.
Hmmmm. Iran??
http://www.upi.com/Business_News/Energy-Resources/2015/05/04/Iran-says-US-oil-reps-headed-to-Tehran/8871430743497/
HOME / BUSINESS NEWS / ENERGY RESOURCES
Iran says U.S. oil reps headed to Tehran
By Daniel J. Graeber Follow @dan_graeber Contact the Author | May 4, 2015 at 9:32 AM
Iranian officials say they're expecting a delegation from the U.S. oil industry to visit Tehran later this week. File Photo by Maryam Rahmanian/UPI | License Photo
SIGN UP FOR OUR DAILY ENERGY NEWSLETTER
Preview our latest newsletter »
TEHRAN, May 4 (UPI) -- Delegates from the U.S. oil industry are expected in Tehran to explore the possibility of conducting business there, Iran's deputy oil minister said Monday.
Iran is restricted to around 1 million barrels per day in exports to a few consuming nations. That's about half the level from before a joint arrangement with international negotiating partners went into force in late 2013. Exports are restricted to just six nations.
Deputy Oil Minister Abbas Moqadam said Monday that representatives from the United States are expected in Iran this week to hold talks with officials in his ministry as well as with domestic contractors working in the oil sector.
"It is predicted that, following the visit by the American delegation to Tehran and possible removal of sanctions against the oil industry, we will witness the presence of major international U.S. oil and gas companies in Iran in future," he said.
In mid-January, Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of the influential Expediency Council, said exports have dropped by 1.5 million barrels per day and inflicted more than $100 billion in revenue losses since 2013. Petroleum officials in Tehran have said, however, they expect foreign investors to "flock to Iran" in the wake of any sanctions relief.
The Iranian government is pressing for more sanctions relief from a framework agreement slated to take force in mid-2015.
Marie Harf, a spokeswoman for the State Department, said last month it was premature to consider what would happen if the framework agreement is finalized.
"The restrictions on oil purchases remain in place," she said. "So what will happen under a comprehensive joint plan of action, I just don't know yet."
Related UPI Stories
Chinese stock gains lift oil prices
IEA: Holistic effort needed in renewables
Rig data show Oklahoma beats North Dakota
Motley Fool Article on Halliburton President's Comments (thanks stlogic):
http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2015/05/01/halliburton-company-sees-big-upside-to-the-oil-mar.aspx
Halliburton Company Sees a Significant Change in the Oil Market on the Horizon
By Matt DiLallo | More Articles
May 1, 2015 | Comments (0)
As he usually does each quarter, Halliburton Company (NYSE: HAL ) President Jeff Miller recently provided investors with his company's view on the oil market. Last quarter, he provided a clue on when the oil market might turn. This quarter his comments seemed to indicate that when the turn comes, it could lead to a significant change in America's role in the oil market. Here's a breakdown of his comments.
The demand response
Miller led off his comments by detailing the supply and demand picture. He noted that,
Over the past several months global demand expectations for 2015 have been consistently revised higher now calling for an increase of over 1 million barrels per day including recent upward revisions for both US and Europe.
One of the reasons the oil market went into a tailspin was because demand for oil was weaker than expected last year. This was due to a combination of persistently high oil prices along with slowing economic growth. Now that oil prices have been lower for several months that's leading to incremental demand for oil. It's an encouraging sign for the oil market as higher demand tends to lead to higher oil prices.
The supply surprise
Miller then turned his attention to the other side of the oil market: Supply. The other factor contributing to the oil price crash last year was the fact that supply growth was more robust than expected. This led to a glut of oil on the market and a deep downturn in oil and gas activity. Miller noted that in terms of supply,
[...} we're all watching US production levels very closely given the volume expansions that took place throughout 2013 and 2014. Recently monthly production estimates have been encouraging, however, showing significantly lower production growth and actually projecting oil production to be flat to down in the major basins.
Miller notes that once robust U.S. oil supplies are now showing a significant slowdown. This is due to the fact that oil companies are really pulling back on new wells. In fact, in Core Labs' earnings release it pointed out that just to keep production flat in the Bakken Shale of North Dakota oil producers need to drill 115 wells per month. However, in February only 42 new wells were completed, which is leading to a slump in production from the play.
In addition to a noticeable slowdown in U.S. production growth, international oil production from non-OPEC producers is also coming down. Miller calls this "an overlooked positive factor." In fact, he pointed out that by, "comparing the IEA forecast exit rate for 2015 against 2014, key non-OPEC contributors are expected to decline."
The combination of stronger than expected demand along with much slower than expected supply growth is expected to lead to a more balanced oil market in the future. That said, Miller did note that, it could be months or even quarters before we do finally reach equilibrium.
When balance is restored
Still, the very fact that balance is beginning to be restored to the oil market is a positive for energy companies, as well as their investors. In fact, Miller sees very positive signs for the North American oil market's future based on how it has reacted during the current downturn. Miller pointed out that,
[...] it is our view that North America will continue to be the most adaptable market in terms of addressing well economics through both efficiency models and technology uptake. One way to look at it is that the US unconventional business is now the lowest cost, fastest to market incremental barrel of oil available in the world today.
Said another way, the unconventional shale market has become the new swing producer in the oil market. This, in a sense, replaces Saudi Arabia as the swing producer as American producers have brought their costs down to such a level that they can ramp production up or down to very quickly respond to changing oil prices. It's really a potential game-changer for the oil market as it has broken OPEC's control over oil prices. That's why it has turned its focus on controlling its share of the oil market instead of swinging into action to cut production when oil prices collapse.
Investor takeaway
Halliburton's President sees the oil market improving to the point where it's very close to reaching equilibrium. However, as important as that is in the near-term for oil producer profits, what's even more important is that this downturn has demonstrated how quickly the U.S. oil market can respond to changes in oil prices. So, in the future when oil prices recover there will likely be a very dramatic uptick in U.S. oil production leading to a real gusher of profits for oil producers due to how much they've been able to cut their costs over the past year. It's a significant change that will only make America's oil production more important to the global market in the years ahead.
Price of oil debate goes on:
(The link is easier to read.)
http://www.oilvoice.com/n/Oil-Price-Rally-Built-On-Very-Fragile-Ground/9686d877103c.aspx?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+OilvoiceHeadlines+(OilVoice+Headlines)
Oil Price Rally Built On Very Fragile Ground
THURSDAY, APRIL 30, 2015
John Richardson
from ICIS
Oil prices rallied yesterday on an unexpected fall in inventories at Cushing in the US to 61.7 million barrels for the week ending 24 April (see the above chart). This was a decline of 514,000 barrels over the previous week, which compared with forecasts of an increase of 400,000 barrels.
So does mean that supply is finally responding to lower prices, resulting in a 'New Normal' of crude trading in a pretty stable range of $50-70 a barrel, or perhaps even higher?
No. As a Singapore oil trader who I spoke to this morning put it: 'Whoopee, Cushing has declined, but this is only partly because US refinery operating rates picked up a little.
'And the other reason that Cushing storage fell was that it was almost at maximum capacity. In other words, it hadn't much further to go except down.
'You must also put this decline in to the context of oil inventories across the whole of the US. According to the latest Energy Information Administration report, total US crude stocks are still at their highest level in more than 80 years,' he said (see the chart below).
'US oil production also rose by 7,000 barrels last week, and it now at its highest level for several decades,' the trader continued.
American shale-oil production is now at around 4 million barrels a day, up from 1.2 million barrels a day last year.
So why did yesterday see West Texas Intermediate hit $58.58 a barrel, its highest price since 11 December 2014?
Perhaps because of financial speculation. Data shows that in the case of Brent, hedge funds have placed huge bets on higher prices by taking out futures options worth 265 million barrels of oil - yet another all-time high. Commodity markets often move on sentiment, and the sentiment amongst the speculators seems very bullish at the moment.
But as the Singapore trader pointed out, there is plenty of data out there to suggest that this price rally has been built on very fragile ground.
And here are six more important points to consider:
Oil producers have hedged more than 500 million barrels of Brent in order to protect against further price declines. Their ability to so do might well have been helped by the extra liquidity in futures markets provided by the hedge funds. So this means that the producers can now afford to stomach much-lower H2 prices in physical markets because they have locked-in higher prices on futures markets. This could result in oil production remaining high in the second half of this year, even if physical prices do suffer another sharp downward correction.
The view of the oil producers is opposite to that of the hedge funds. ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson, for example, said last week that there would be no quick rebound to higher prices. Exxon is the largest shale producer in the US. Last week also saw the CEO of ConocoPhillips, John Watson, say that he was worried that there were too many US untapped shale-oil awaiting completion. This is the 'fracklog' I discussed last month. So recent stronger pricing might be quickly reversed by these wells being brought on-stream.
US shale producers are expected to see their costs fall by 45% this year, and by up to 70% by the end of next year, according to the UK's Daily Telegraph. Hess, for example, has announced it has already 'driven down drilling costs by 50%, and we can see another 30% ahead.' This underlines my point that the US has huge incentives, both economic and political, to continue working very hard to reduce shale-oil production costs.
Oil companies in general, not just shale oil companies, are treating lower prices as an opportunity to trim costs - and thus lower their production costs. They are finding these savings in rig rates, the cost of equipment, well completions and other oil services.
Almost all countries can still economically produce oil at $15 a barrel, according to a new IMF and Rystard Energy Study. Only Canada/Australia with costs of $20 a barrel, Brazil at $30 a barrel and the UK at $40 a barrel needed higher prices, added the study. 'Lower oil prices are expected to have a smaller impact on production of shale oil in the United States than on deepwater and oil sand production, especially in Brazil, Canada, and the United Kingdom,' wrote the IMF.
Saudi Arabia is playing the long game in order to try and win back market share, and so is unlikely to cut production. There used to be a lot of talk of Saudi Arabia needing oil at around $90 a barrel to balance its budget. But this overlooked the fact that Saudi Arabia has plenty of foreign reserves to enable to withstand prices at much-lower levels for several year. And, anyway, Saudi Arabia remembers the bitter lesson of the 1980s, when its production cutbacks failed to prevent oil prices from falling - because other countries maintained or increased their output.
US dollar strength. A stronger dollar means that recent price declines are having less of a beneficial impact on other countries because they have, of course, seen their local currencies weaken against the Greenback. This has reduced the demand for oil.
And there is an eighth factor worth separate mention, as it is the most important factor of all, which is this: Demand. Apart from the impact of a stronger dollar on oil consumption, the global economy continues to struggle, largely because of events in China.
So as I again think about the hard-pressed chemicals company planning offices out there, here is some concluding advice: Please, please build in a scenario of a sharp retreat in oil prices in the second half of this year.
Here we go:
Two articles follow below:
First article:
Iran's Revolutionary Guard head accuses Saudi Arabia of 'treachery' against Islamic world:
http://www.cp24.com/world/iran-s-revolutionary-guard-head-accuses-saudi-arabia-of-treachery-against-islamic-world-1.2346388
Iran's Revolutionary Guard head accuses Saudi Arabia of 'treachery' against Islamic world
Mohammad Ali Jafari
In this Sunday, Sept. 16, 2012, file photo, commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guard Gen. Mohammad Ali Jafari, gives a press conference in Tehran, Iran. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi, File)
The Associated Press
Published Monday, April 27, 2015 8:48AM EDT
TEHRAN, Iran -- The head of Iran's Revolutionary Guard on Monday accused Saudi Arabia of treachery against the Islamic world and compared the kingdom to Israel, the official IRNA news agency reported.
"Today, the treacherous Saudis are following in Israel's footsteps," Gen. Mohammad Ali Jafari was quoted as saying.
"Saudi Arabia is shamelessly and disgracefully bombing and mass killing a nation that is fighting against the arrogant system," or world powers, he said. He was apparently referring to Yemen, where a Saudi-led coalition has been waging a monthlong air campaign against Iran-supported rebels, known as Houthis.
Iran has provided the Houthis with political and humanitarian support but denies arming them. The Houthis seized the capital, Sanaa, last year, and Yemen's internationally recognized president has fled the country.
Iranian leaders have repeatedly criticized the airstrikes and said the Saudi-led campaign is doomed to fail. Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei went so far as to call the airstrikes in Yemen "genocide."
Jafari said the Saudi monarchy is facing collapse and called on his government to adopt a tougher stance toward Riyadh.
Sunni Saudi Arabia and Shiite Iran are longtime regional rivals. They back opposite sides in Syria's civil war and are fiercely divided on a host of regional issues.
The head of Iran's navy said warships would remain in international waters near Yemen as part of a 90-day assignment through July 10. Adm. Habibollah Sayyari told state TV they will then be replaced by another fleet.
Iran dispatched the destroyer Alborz and logistics ship Bushehr to the waters off Yemen last month. It says the ships are patrolling the strategic Bab al-Mandab strait on an anti-piracy mission.
Last week the Pentagon said a nine-ship Iranian convoy heading for Yemen had reversed course.
The turning point appeared to be the U.S. Navy's announcement last Monday that the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt had departed its usual position in the Persian Gulf and was to join other U.S. forces conducting maritime security operations in the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Aden off Yemen's coast.
Iranian officials have never acknowledged sending a convoy.
Will Iran Attempt To Seize Control Of Saudi Oilfields?
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Second Article:
From Forbes.
Will Iran Attempt To Seize Control Of Saudi Oilfields?:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/steveforbes/2015/04/27/will-iran-attempt-to-seize-control-of-saudi-oilfields/
FINANCE 4/27/2015 @ 1:21PM 14,285 views
Will Iran Attempt To Seize Control Of Saudi Oilfields?
Comment Now Follow Comments
IN 1976 an investment banker turned adventure novelist, Paul Erdman, penned a best-selling thriller, The Crash of ’79. Center to the plot was the Shah of Iran making a grab for the oilfields of the Arab Middle East, with a well-armed military, thanks to rising oil prices. Of course, barely 24 months later the Shah was ousted by radical Islamists, who subsequently bled the country white in a bloody and futile eight-year war with Iraq. Oil prices crashed after Ronald Reagan took office, and all thoughts of an Iranian version of a Nazi blitzkrieg disappeared.
Well, if Erdman were still alive (he died in 2007), he could write a very plausible updated version of his novel, with—very frighteningly—the all too likely possibility that this time fiction would turn into fact.
Iran doesn’t possess a passel of Panzer divisions and have a murderous Luftwaffe at its disposal. But it now has the means to make a play for control of the immense oilfields of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and, all too obviously, Iraq, where its proxy militias are gaining strength. Militias under Iranian control can achieve Teheran’s imperial goals almost as well as WWII-style armed forces.
In the updated Erdman novel a prominent role would go to Russia’s strongman,Vladimir Putin, whose economy has been devastated by sanctions and low oil prices. Putin would ally himself closely with the murderous mullahs of Teheran, since both have a desperate desire for more expensive petroleum.
Oh, wait. In the real world didn’t Putin announce that even though sanctions against Iran are still in force Russia would sell the blood-soaked clerics a very sophisticated air-defense missile system, thereby making an Israeli strike against Iran’s burgeoning nuclear weapons program even more problematical?
middle-east-map
Look at the map of Saudi Arabia, keeping in mind that the majority of Muslims there are Sunni and the minority, Shiite. To the south is Yemen. Readers will remember Yemen as the country that President Obama proclaimed a success story against terrorist forces not so many months ago. Oops! Pro-Iranian terrorist militias are now ascendent in Yeman, with ISIS-like forces also enjoying a strong presence there. The freaked-out Saudis are conducting air strikes in Yemen to try to stem this adverse tide.
To the Saudi north lies Iraq, where Iran is exercising more and more control. Adding to Saudi anxieties is the fact that most of its oil assets are in an area of the kingdom in which Shiites are the distinct majority. Iran’s Shiite mullahs figure this is territory ripe for Iranian suzerainty and feel they have nothing to fear from Saudi ground forces.
It doesn’t take a great military theorist to see that Iran is applying a pincer movement against Saudi Arabia. While the world focuses on U.S./Iran nuclear negotiations, the mullahs–and Putin–have their eyes on more immediate and immensely more juicy prey. They believe, despite the deployment of U.S. Navy vessels leading Iran to turn back an Iranian naval convoy last week, that Obama will do nothing effective.
Which leads to the question: What will Israel be forced to do to secure itself–and the civilized world?
Natural gas has big future:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/energy/11563761/US-to-launch-blitz-of-gas-exports-eyes-global-energy-dominance.html
Telegraph.co.uk
Search - enhanced by OpenText
Monday 27 April 2015
Telegraph Investor
US to launch blitz of gas exports, eyes global energy dominance
The US Energy Department prepares a wave of LNG gas permits in the latest move to redraw the world's oil and gas landscape
Ambrose Evans-Pritchard By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard, International Business Editor, Houston8:08PM BST 26 Apr 2015 Comments597 Comments
The United States is poised to flood world markets with once-unthinkable quantities of liquefied natural gas as soon as this year, profoundly changing the geo-politics of global energy and posing a major threat to Russian gas dominance in Europe.
"We anticipate becoming big players, and I think we'll have a big impact," said the Ernest Moniz, the US Energy Secretary. "We're going to influence the whole global LNG market."
Mr Moniz said four LNG export terminals are under construction and the first wave of shipments may begin before the end of this year or in early 2016 at the latest.
“Certainly in this decade, there’s a good chance that we will be LNG exporters on the scale of Qatar, which is today’s largest LNG exporter,” he said, speaking on the margins of the IHS CERAWeek energy summit in Texas.
Qatar exports just over 100 billion cubic meters (BCM), though Australia is catching up fast as the offshore Gorgon field comes on stream. It may pull ahead of Qatar later this decade.
Mr Moniz said the surge in US output from shale fracking has already transformed the global market. "We would have been importing a lot of LNG by now. Those cargoes would have gone elsewhere and have in fact had a significant impact in the European market,” he said.
Gas frackers assembled at the world's "energy Davos" in Houston said exports could ultimately be much higher, potentially overtaking Russia as the world's biggest supplier of natural gas of all kinds.
"We're just fifteen years into a 150-year process," said Steve Mueller, head of Southwestern Energy, the fourth biggest producer of gas in the US .
The mile-deep Marcellus basin stretching from West Virginia through Pennsylvania to New York state is driving the explosive growth. Interlocking fractures in the rock make it possible for a single well with advanced technology to extract much more gas than thought possible just five years ago.
Once thought to be in decline, the Marcellus alone produces 113 BCM a year. This is roughly equivalent to Russia's exports to Europe through the Nord Stream, Yamal, and Brotherhood pipelines.
Mr Mueller defiantly sweeps aside those who claim that the US fracking industry is in serious trouble, insisting that drilling costs are coming down so fast that his company - and others - are staying a step ahead of falling prices.
"Rig efficiency was flat for thirty years but since then we've cut by five times. We have set in motion something that you can't deny and is irresistible," he said.
Mr Mueller said it had taken his company 17 days to drill a 2,600 ft well as recently as 2007. It has just drilled a 5,400 ft well in six days. "The new technology is amazing. We have a drill-bit with a chip inside that makes its own changes," he said.
He is continuing to invest heavily and hopes to boost output by up to 10pc annually for the next three years, despite a drop in gas prices to around $2.60 per million British thermal units (BTU). "If it stays around $3, we'll be fine," he said.
The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) expects gas prices to rise to $4.88 in real terms by 2020, and $7.85 by 2040.
What is remarkable is that US drillers can produce a third more natural gas today with 280 rigs than they did in 2009 with 1,200 rigs. Total shale output has soared to over 350 BCM from almost nothing a decade ago. It now makes up half of US gas production.
The Obama administration has so far been slow to approve new export terminals for LNG, partly because of concerns that the US would lose its massive advantage in energy and feedstock costs for industry.
Gas sells at for $7 in Europe, and over $10 in North-East Asia, four times more expensive. This cost-gap has been a key driver behind America's so-called "manufacturing renaissance", stoking an investment boom in chemicals, plastics, and glass, and saving the country's steel mills from slow death.
A corridor from Houston to New Orleans has attracted 33 petrochemical plants worth over $1bn each since 2011. The American Chemistry Council expects over $130 billion of industrial projects along this stretch by 2023.
The administration has concluded that the US lead is now so entrenched that there is little to lose from a partial levelling of the global playing field. The expense of freezing gas for liquefaction to minus 260 degrees Fahrenheit and shipping it across the Atlantic or Pacific in molybdenum-hulled vessels is enough to maintain a big cost advantage for US manufacturers.
Four LNG terminals with a combined export capacity of 70 BCM are likely to be approved soon by the Energy Department. The front-runner is Cherniere's $18bn terminal at Sabine Pass in Louisiana.
Experts are split over whether North America really can become the world's dominant LNG player. Moody's warned earlier this month that most of the 30 gas liquefaction projects planned in the US and Canada will never get off the ground, chiefly due to the linkage between LNG contracts and the price of crude. "The drop in international oil prices has wiped out the price advantage US LNG projects," it said.
Michael Smith, head of Freeport LNG, said his company will press ahead regardless with plans for a $13bn plant near Houston, and predicted that the US could soon leap-frog all rivals to become the new gas hegemon. "Our projects are very competitive and we will continue to have an advantage over the rest of the world," he said.
Russian president Vladimir Putin warned at the St Petersburg economic summit last year that US shale gas was abruptly changing the international order, with serious implications for his country. The early effects have forced down global LNG prices, creating a rival source of gas supply in Europe.
Any future American cargoes would further erode Gazprom's pricing power in Europe, and erode the Kremlin's political leverage. The EU already has a large network of import terminals for LNG.
Lithuania has just finished its "Independence" terminal, opening up the Baltic states to LNG. Poland's new terminal should be ready this year.
America's parallel drive for shale oil is equally breath-taking. Scott Sheffield, head of Pioneer Natural Resources, said his company has discovered huge reserves in the vast Permian Basin of West Texas.
"We think the Permian could produce 5-6m barrels a day (b/d) in the long-term," he said. It is a staggering claim. This would be more than Saudi Arabia's giant Ghawar field, the biggest in the world.
Ryan Lance, head of ConocoPhillips, said North American oil output could reach 15m b/d by 2020 and 25m b/d over the next quarter century, three times Saudi Arabia's current exports.
A vault forward on this scale would establish the US as the leading energy superpower in both oil and gas, a revival that almost nobody could have imagined seven years ago when the United States was in near panic over its exorbitant dependency of imported fuel. It would restore the US to its mid-20th Century position as a surplus trading nation, and perhaps ultimately as world's biggest external creditor once again.
Fracking is still an almost exclusive preserve of North America, and is likely to remain so into the early 2020s. China has large ambitions but the volumes are still tiny, and there is a shortage of water in key areas. Fracking remains mere talk in most other regions of the world.
Lukoil analysts say Russian extraction costs for shale are four times higher that those of US wildcat drillers. Sanctions currently prevent the Russians importing the know-how and technology to tap its vast Bazhenov basin at a viable cost.
John Hess, the founder of Hess Corporation, said it takes a unique confluence of circumstances to pull off a fracking revolution: landowner rights over sub-soil minerals, a pipeline infrastructure, the right taxes and regulations, and good rock. “We haven’t seen those stars align yet,” he said.
Above all it requires the acquiescence of the people. "It takes a thousand trucks going in and out to launch a (drilling) spud. Not every neighbourhood wants that," he said.
Certainly not in Sussex, Burgundy, or Bavaria.
Russia going for Saudi Arabia.
The Mark Levin radio show had some fascinating info on Putin and Saudi Arabia today 4/24/15:
If you want to hear what he had to say go to the link below and listen to "Play Now 4/24/15" at the below link:
http://www.marklevinshow.com/common/page.php?pt=podcasts&id=191&is_corp=0
His discussion of Putin and Saudi Arabia begins at time 7:56 and ends at 15:14.
Number of fracking companies being reduced. Article link and article below:
http://business.financialpost.com/news/energy/half-of-u-s-fracking-companies-will-be-dead-or-sold-by-the-end-of-this-year?__lsa=010d-75d8
FINANCIAL POST ARTICLE:
Half of U.S. fracking companies will be dead or sold by the end of this year
David Wethe, Bloomberg News | April 23, 2015 9:48 AM ET
More from Bloomberg News
Demand for fracking, a production method that along with horizontal drilling spurred a boom in U.S. oil and natural gas output, has declined as customers leave wells uncompleted because of low prices.
Associated Press Demand for fracking, a production method that along with horizontal drilling spurred a boom in U.S. oil and natural gas output, has declined as customers leave wells uncompleted because of low prices.
Twitter Google+ LinkedIn Email Typo? More
Half of the 41 fracking companies operating in the U.S. will be dead or sold by year-end because of slashed spending by oil companies, an executive with Weatherford International Plc said.
Big oil warns world to brace for a different, but equally daunting, price shock to come
Oil companies say there will be a price to pay — a much higher price — for all the cost cutting being done today to cope with the collapse in the crude market. Read on
There could be about 20 companies left that provide hydraulic fracturing services, Rob Fulks, pressure pumping marketing director at Weatherford, said in an interview Wednesday at the IHS CERAWeek conference in Houston. Demand for fracking, a production method that along with horizontal drilling spurred a boom in U.S. oil and natural gas output, has declined as customers leave wells uncompleted because of low prices.
There were 61 fracking service providers in the U.S., the world’s largest market, at the start of last year. Consolidation among bigger players began with Halliburton Co. announcing plans to buy Baker Hughes Inc. in November for US$34.6 billion and C&J Energy Services Ltd. buying the pressure-pumping business of Nabors Industries Ltd.
Weatherford, which operates the fifth-largest fracking operation in the U.S., has been forced to cut costs “dramatically” in response to customer demand, Fulks said. The company has been able to negotiate price cuts from the mines that supply sand, which is used to prop open cracks in the rocks that allow hydrocarbons to flow.
While many large private-equity firms are looking at fracking companies to buy, the spread between buyer and seller pricing is still too wide for now, Alex Robart, a principal at PacWest, said in an interview at CERAWeek.
Fulks declined to say whether Weatherford is seeking to acquire other fracking companies or their unused equipment.
“We go by and we see yards are locked up and the doors are closed,” he said. “It’s not good for equipment to park anything, whether it’s an airplane, a frack pump or a car.”
Bloomberg.com
Article on future price of oil:
http://business.financialpost.com/news/energy/big-oil-warns-world-to-brace-for-the-different-but-equally-daunting-price-shock-to-come?__lsa=0011-31f0
(ARTICLE BELOW OR GO TO LINK ABOVE FOR SAME)
Oil companies' cuts today are setting the table for a future oil-price shock when a growing world population drives higher demand, said oil executives and financiers at the IHS CeraWeek Energy Conference in Houston.
National PostOil companies' cuts today are setting the table for a future oil-price shock when a growing world population drives higher demand, said oil executives and financiers at the IHS CeraWeek Energy Conference in Houston.
Twitter Google+ LinkedIn Email Typo? More
As the oil patch grows accustomed to a new world of US$50 to US$60 crude, it’s now looking ahead to a different but equally daunting sort of cliff.
Saudi Arabia was worried about a danger much bigger than shale when it blindsided oil markets
While the new Saudi stance has been trumpeted as a war on U.S. shale, the puppet master of global oil Ali Al-Naimi was pushing prices lower because of a much deeper fear. Read on
Oil companies are warning there will be a price to pay — a much higher price — for all the cost cutting being done today to cope with the collapse in the crude market. Big projects intended to start pumping oil and natural gas 5 to 10 years from now are being canceled or put on hold as the price crash forced US$114 billion in spending cuts on the industry.
Energy giants from Exxon Mobil Corp. to Royal Dutch Shell say they’re taking a much more cautious approach to approving projects that cost billions and take years to complete. That’s setting the table for a future oil-price shock when a growing world population drives higher demand, said oil executives and financiers at the IHS CeraWeek Energy Conference in Houston.
“What we decide today will have an effect on the future,” Patrick Pouyanne, chief executive officer of Total SA said Tuesday during the event. Postponing spending on mega-projects that usually deliver significant quantities of oil or gas “will have an impact. This could affect supply in three or four years.”
Demand has already begun to show signs of strength. The Paris-based International Energy Agency last week raised its forecast for 2015 demand, projecting that the world will consume 94.7 million barrels a day of crude in the fourth quarter, a potential increase of almost 1 million barrels over the same period in 2014.
Spencer Platt/Getty Images
Spencer Platt/Getty ImagesThe price of oil is displayed in Midland, Texas. As crude oil prices have fallen nearly 60 percent globally, many American communities that became dependent on oil revenue are preparing for hard times. Across the state drilling budgets are being slashed and companies are notifying workers of upcoming layoffs.
Shale Output
U.S. output in shale formations is expected to fall as soon as next month, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Oil production decreases due to spending cuts and decline from aging fields, combined with demand growth, are likely to push prices higher in the next six months to two years, said Ralph Eads, vice chairman and global head of energy investment banking at Jefferies Group Inc.
“I don’t see how the market isn’t going to be in an undersupplied position,” Eads said in an interview. “If you look around the world, where’s the deliverability going to come from? That’s the head scratcher. You just don’t know. It’s hard to make the math add up.”
Eads, who as a deal-maker helped give rise to the shale age, is among many in the industry who have begun to point to a growing risk of diminishing spare capacity, the amount by which existing wells can increase global output if pumped at full speed.
Spencer Platt/Getty Images
Spencer Platt/Getty ImagesOil pumps are viewed for sale in Texas as drilling budgets are being slashed.
Meeting Disruptions
It’s a closely watched figure in oil markets because it represents how much supply can be turned up to meet disruptions or demand increases. Continued Saudi production increases may “significantly” reduce spare capacity “at a time when oil markets will be tighter and geopolitical risks to supply are growing,” Pira Energy Group wrote April 14.
Not everyone is anticipating higher prices soon. BP Plc CEO Bob Dudley and Exxon Chairman and CEO Rex Tillerson said Tuesday that they see oil staying lower for years into the future. Dudley said “lower for longer” has become the company’s mantra.
Elsewhere, crude traders and hedge funds are beginning to see oil turn a corner. Prices can’t drop below US$50 for sustained periods because that’s below the cost of supply, Ian Taylor, the CEO of Vitol Group, the world’s largest independent crude trader, said in an interview at the FT Commodities Global Summit in Lausanne, Switzerland on Tuesday. Andy Hall, CEO of commodities hedge fund Astenbeck Capital Management LLC, has also told investors that prices can’t stay low for long.
Outside OPEC
Beyond demand, supply outside of OPEC is one of the most important reasons for that. The collapse in crude prices has been so steep and so dramatic that most of the 200 major international oil and gas projects scheduled for final investment approvals in the next two years are susceptible to cancellation or postponement, said Nick Lowes, vice president of oil and gas consulting at IHS Inc. Sixty-six percent of those projects aren’t economical at current prices, he said.
In the long term, as further industrialization takes hold around the world and the global population swells to about 9 billion, energy consumption is expected to surge more than 50 per cent in the next 20 years, according to BP.
Outside of some producing countries that limit access to their reserves, the industry has failed in recent years to find enough oil to replace lost production. Last year, the companies only struck enough oil for about 50 days of global consumption, said Tim Dodson, the executive vice president for exploration at Statoil ASA.
“The industry is struggling big-time to replace their oil resources and reserves,” Dodson said.
Bloomberg.com
Yes, happy Easter. Here's to the celebration of the most historical event of mankind's existence on earth; the death and resurrection of Christ, Savior of the world.
John 3:14,15:
"And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life."
Jesus Christ
Numbers 21:9 :
And Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on the standard; and it came about, that if a serpent bit any man, when he looked to the bronze serpent, he lived.
Moses
2 Corinthians 6:2
Behold, now is “the acceptable time,” behold, now is “the day of salvation”—
Paul
Simply look to Christ and you will be saved.
Since you brought up the subject of water here is exactly what the doctor ordered:
http://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/Texas-From-Shale-Boom-to-Water-Revolution.html
STW Resources Holding Corp. Ticker: STWS
I have not invested in this stock as of yet.
From article at link above:
The Salttech systems can be manufactured to process as many gallons of water per day as is needed, according to STW Resources Holding Corp, which has the exclusive license for this technology not only in the US, but also in Canada, Mexico and Central America.
For the oil industry, this is a breakthrough technology that could save it untold sums of money by reclaiming the massive volumes of precious water used in drilling and fracking and also processing produced water that accompanies oil and gas production.
So what are you trying to suggest Hood...that the reverse split is a GOOD thing? If you are then perhaps it's you who should stick to any knowledge but stocks. Especially small caps.
Such sophistry.
A reverse split for a company as small as this one could simply be to reduce shareholder stake so that when the share price does "take off" the payout will be less.
Management could just be taking advantage of the sudden price drop to reverse split and reduce shareholder payout later when the "good times" arrive.
Big volume to the down side today. Price of oil is no longer dropping. See what talk of reverse splits does to a stock. It's time to burst the "trial balloon" by management stating that it is reversing its decision to do a reverse split.
If management is sending up trial balloons to keep share holders from being surprised when a reverse split is implemented then my own trial balloon to HIIT management is to not be surprised when I ditch this stock as a result. They're lucky I haven't already done so simply due to the stock price drop since October.
No wonder trading volume was so heavy last week when the stock price fell. I was wondering what the news was which we weren't being told that could have cause a price fall on such heavy volume to happen. The reverse split rumor explains it.