excerpt; Why Get Screwed Again?
Screwed in the markets. Screwed at the gas pump. Screwed by big banks.
And screwed by fat cat members of Congress who have something you don't:
the unfair advantage of being able to make plays on privileged information.
you know what insiders like Nancy Pelosi did you could use it to bank hundreds of triple-gains. The crazy part is that it's all perfectly legal.
A New (Energy) Problem Awaits in Germany
is this why german tops went to russia recently?
the consultations in Frankfurt - one tomorrow afternoon and another Friday morning. Both deal with the trajectory of crude oil prices, but both have very different participants.
Tomorrow's meeting involves bankers. Friday brings in the corporate folks.
While they both need to get their hands around pricing volatility, each has a different underlying interest. European banks in the current environment now have less leverage to establish investment packages for oil deals, thanks to the ongoing credit constriction.
That has changed the approach of oil companies seeking capital. These days, everyone is affected, even the "big boys" I'll meet with at the end of the week. It used to be in the "old days" - two years ago, some things change rapidly in the international oil patch - companies would simply collateralize their reserves.
company would conservatively value the oil still in the ground, coming up with a figure well below what the field geologists know is extractable. A point bank (usually the major "book runner" for finance) would then lowball the expected market value of that already low-volume estimate.
The bank would then syndicate loan risk to a number of other financial institutions, and both sides would make money. The company securing finance would come in with production levels higher than the estimate used in the loan papers and the syndicated network of banks would realize sales at a higher price than the artificially low number used in crunching the initial loan figures.
oil financing business would take place there with Deutsche Bank being the world's leader in designing syndicated loans for field projects.
How Renewables Could Lower Energy Prices in 2013
Electricity rates may be coming down, oddly, because of government subsidies on things like wind and solar. Just how much of that ends up in the pocket of a normal consumer is unknown.
Logistics is the (Real) Energy Opportunity after Sandy
Since the Hurricane hit the East Coast last week, a recurring, disturbing bit of advice has surfaced on those cable news investment shows
"U.S. Redraws World Oil Map." U.S. oil production is on pace to surpass Saudi Arabia by 2020. It's all thanks to the U.S. shale boom. But - with apologies to Voltaire and Spiderman - with such great fortune comes greater responsibility.
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