I'm still holding it, in for a long pain ahead. Thinking of splitting half of it into ESV because they might follow Seadrill's playbook by eliminating div completely. They might be reluctant to do so due to Icahn's pressure but you never know in this environment. Right now, both RIG and ESV is still paying a decent div. ESV has a cleaner balance sheet, maybe it's a safer bet for now.
The estimated cost of cleaning up the Sellafield nuclear reprocessing site in Cumbria has risen by almost £2.5bn in a year, a report has said.
renewables can be sorted with basic shipbuilding skills, welding, engineering etc, its far easier to build and maintain and expand the infrastructure network
I'm no treehugger btw, this is simple engineering... versus complicated expensive dangerous nuclear or dirty price-volatile finite fossil fuels
renewables can be sorted with basic shipbuilding skills, welding, engineering etc, its far easier to build and maintain and expand the infrastructure network
I'm no treehugger btw, this is simple engineering... versus complicated expensive dangerous nuclear or dirty price-volatile finite fossil fuels
Wind is nowhere near free, that is correct. I probably logistically made everything happen for the two wind farms that they reference (without giving the names of). The turbines have gotten more powerful and efficient, but the cost to erect a farm, along with the upkeep and labor to keep it running, isn't necessarily cheap. Working on gas turbines now...Selling like hot cakes to Mideastern countries.
yes some of these stocks can be day traded. i was trading pgh before the collapse hit and doing good then i got stuck. i bought in at 3.44 and again at 3.11 the stock went to 2.41 and has rebounded violently. today i sold half my position at 3.22, im still underwater on the shares i bought at 3.46 but now im gonna wait and see which way oil goes, if the stock goes back sub 2 im gonna rebuy in, if it runs higher ill sell the shares i bought at 3.44 when im in the green. i dont mind getting stuck in this stock bc they are still paying their monthly divy it hasnt been cut yet. they pay 4cents canadian a month the yield is over 16% even if it gets cut in half its still a very attractive yield. they get 1/3 of their revenues from nat gas 2/3 from oil and 67% of all 2015 oil is hedged at $94 a barrel and 1/3 of 2016 oil is hedged at $95 a barrel so they can weather this storm better than some other companies. also they just had their massive lindburgh project come online this week. in their last CC management said even at $50 oil it can produce a rate of return of 10%
i really like the stock alot its worth checking out. especially the CC transcript on seeking alpha. PGH is the ticker
i really like the stock alot its worth checking out. especially the CC transcript on seeking alpha. PGH is the ticker
Switzerland's National Bank (SNB) will bring in a negative interest rate cutting the value of large sums of money left on deposit in the country.
The Bank is imposing a rate of minus 0.25% on "sight deposits" - a form of instant access account - of more than 10m Swiss francs ($9.77m).
It is trying to lower the value of the Swiss franc, which has risen recen
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-30528404
The Bank is imposing a rate of minus 0.25% on "sight deposits" - a form of instant access account - of more than 10m Swiss francs ($9.77m).
It is trying to lower the value of the Swiss franc, which has risen recen
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-30528404
[h=1]Cheap oil is killing my job
January 06[/h]NEW YORK
Marcus Benson moved 1,500 miles from his home in Philadelphia to North Dakota for the shale boom.
He made the lengthy drive -- with no job and nowhere to live -- in April 2012 after hearing on the news that the state had the lowest unemployment rate in the country.
"I felt like it was a good opportunity. I wasn't doing much," Benson, who had been working odd jobs after dropping out of college, told CNNMoney.
He immediately landed good-paying work loading rail cars with sand used for fracking.
"I went from doing odd jobs for $8 an hour to $25 an hour. I thought that was crazy," Benson said. It wasn't long before he was earning $30 an hour
Related: How North Dakota's economy doubled in 11 years
Of course, back then oil brought in over $100 a barrel. This week oil plummeted below $50, squeezing high-cost oil producers like shale companies.
The good times for Benson, 28, ended on New Year's Eve, when he lost his new job at Ames Water Solutions, which serves the fracking industry.
"They said the main reason was the price of oil dropping," said Benson, who filed for unemployment this week.
Now he's worried he won't find another job before getting kicked out of company-owned housing.
Benson is one of thousands of energy workers who have been laid off in recent weeks. In many cases, these were good jobs that were paying healthy wages.
The oil plunge that is saving drivers at the pump is also threatening the livelihoods of people in the previously booming energy industry.
Related: How low will oil go? $30 is possible
'We're all out of jobs now': Jeff Sharpe got the bad news 10 days before Thanksgiving. He and 21 coworkers at a rig in Wyoming were laid off due to depressed oil and natural gas prices.
"All my friends and family keep talking (positively) about low prices. When I say, 'We're all out of jobs now,' they say 'Oh,'" Sharpe, 32, told CNNMoney. "I don't think they realize what's going on in the big picture."
The Colorado native, who has a five-year-old daughter, has been on unemployment since. He recently decided to relocate to North Dakota to take a job working on completed wells, figuring that should be more secure than the drilling side of the industry.
"When I went through this in 2009, I learned my lesson to save my money instead of spending it. That's what is saving me now," Sharpe said.
Related: Tumbling oil could take thousands of jobs
Texas-sized domino effect: Beyond North Dakota, Texas is most at risk from the energy meltdown.
Denise Walker fears she will need to issue pink slips at Frontier Services, the oil services company she co-owns in Alice, Texas. Just a few months ago business was "awesome," but the oil plunge has already cost Frontier a major customer and forced it to discount prices.
"I am probably going to have to lay some people off or readjust their salaries. I hate to do that," Walker told CNNMoney.
Laid off employees lose access to the company's generous health benefits. "I don't know what they are going to do. It's tragic," she said.
Walker is hoping Texas will weather the storm, but said she wouldn't be one bit surprised if the state sinks into a recession. J.P. Morgan Chase's chief economist has already warned it's a very real possibility.
"It's a domino effect. People lose their jobs, they quit spending money. That affects other businesses," she said.
Related: Texas could fall into oil-fueled recession
Layoffs in the Gulf: The pain is also being felt in the Gulf of Mexico, where lower oil prices are forcing drillers to dial back on expensive deep-water exploration.
Alex, who declined to give his last name, fears he may lose his job as a supply boat captain. His company has already laid off two other captains and is operating less than half its fleet of boats.
"Oil companies are not spending the money on projects offshore, so many boats are sitting idle or even empty. This is sad because the crews of these vessels are just trying to make a living for their families back home," said Alex, who has a three-year-old child and whose wife is pregnant.
Despite not finishing high school, he had been raking in $100,000 a year after working his way up as a deckhand. Now his company is enacting a 12% pay cut to cope with the energy industry pullback.
"You live the dream for a while ... and all of a sudden gas prices go down," he said.
Alex acknowledges the low gas prices are great for tourists and drivers, especially around spring break time in his Florida.
"It's nice to have it that low, but prices need to find a medium where everybody is happy," he said.
By Matt Egan January 06, 2015 05:27AM EST
January 06[/h]NEW YORK
Marcus Benson moved 1,500 miles from his home in Philadelphia to North Dakota for the shale boom.
He made the lengthy drive -- with no job and nowhere to live -- in April 2012 after hearing on the news that the state had the lowest unemployment rate in the country.
"I felt like it was a good opportunity. I wasn't doing much," Benson, who had been working odd jobs after dropping out of college, told CNNMoney.
He immediately landed good-paying work loading rail cars with sand used for fracking.
"I went from doing odd jobs for $8 an hour to $25 an hour. I thought that was crazy," Benson said. It wasn't long before he was earning $30 an hour
Related: How North Dakota's economy doubled in 11 years
Of course, back then oil brought in over $100 a barrel. This week oil plummeted below $50, squeezing high-cost oil producers like shale companies.
The good times for Benson, 28, ended on New Year's Eve, when he lost his new job at Ames Water Solutions, which serves the fracking industry.
"They said the main reason was the price of oil dropping," said Benson, who filed for unemployment this week.
Now he's worried he won't find another job before getting kicked out of company-owned housing.
Benson is one of thousands of energy workers who have been laid off in recent weeks. In many cases, these were good jobs that were paying healthy wages.
The oil plunge that is saving drivers at the pump is also threatening the livelihoods of people in the previously booming energy industry.
Related: How low will oil go? $30 is possible
'We're all out of jobs now': Jeff Sharpe got the bad news 10 days before Thanksgiving. He and 21 coworkers at a rig in Wyoming were laid off due to depressed oil and natural gas prices.
"All my friends and family keep talking (positively) about low prices. When I say, 'We're all out of jobs now,' they say 'Oh,'" Sharpe, 32, told CNNMoney. "I don't think they realize what's going on in the big picture."
The Colorado native, who has a five-year-old daughter, has been on unemployment since. He recently decided to relocate to North Dakota to take a job working on completed wells, figuring that should be more secure than the drilling side of the industry.
"When I went through this in 2009, I learned my lesson to save my money instead of spending it. That's what is saving me now," Sharpe said.
Related: Tumbling oil could take thousands of jobs
Texas-sized domino effect: Beyond North Dakota, Texas is most at risk from the energy meltdown.
Denise Walker fears she will need to issue pink slips at Frontier Services, the oil services company she co-owns in Alice, Texas. Just a few months ago business was "awesome," but the oil plunge has already cost Frontier a major customer and forced it to discount prices.
"I am probably going to have to lay some people off or readjust their salaries. I hate to do that," Walker told CNNMoney.
Laid off employees lose access to the company's generous health benefits. "I don't know what they are going to do. It's tragic," she said.
Walker is hoping Texas will weather the storm, but said she wouldn't be one bit surprised if the state sinks into a recession. J.P. Morgan Chase's chief economist has already warned it's a very real possibility.
"It's a domino effect. People lose their jobs, they quit spending money. That affects other businesses," she said.
Related: Texas could fall into oil-fueled recession
Layoffs in the Gulf: The pain is also being felt in the Gulf of Mexico, where lower oil prices are forcing drillers to dial back on expensive deep-water exploration.
Alex, who declined to give his last name, fears he may lose his job as a supply boat captain. His company has already laid off two other captains and is operating less than half its fleet of boats.
"Oil companies are not spending the money on projects offshore, so many boats are sitting idle or even empty. This is sad because the crews of these vessels are just trying to make a living for their families back home," said Alex, who has a three-year-old child and whose wife is pregnant.
Despite not finishing high school, he had been raking in $100,000 a year after working his way up as a deckhand. Now his company is enacting a 12% pay cut to cope with the energy industry pullback.
"You live the dream for a while ... and all of a sudden gas prices go down," he said.
Alex acknowledges the low gas prices are great for tourists and drivers, especially around spring break time in his Florida.
"It's nice to have it that low, but prices need to find a medium where everybody is happy," he said.
By Matt Egan January 06, 2015 05:27AM EST
The Eurozone has fallen into deflation. December inflation was -0.2% from a year earlier.
Inflation in the eurozone has turned negative, official figures have shown, with prices in December 0.2% lower than the same month a year earlier.
The tip into deflation is expected to make further action to stimulate the zone's economy by the European Central Bank more likely.
The bank's inflation target is below but close to 2%.
The fall in prices was driven mainly by lower energy costs following the recent drop in the price of oil.
If energy prices are excluded, December's inflation rate for the eurozone was 0.6%, the same as in November.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-30707644
Inflation in the eurozone has turned negative, official figures have shown, with prices in December 0.2% lower than the same month a year earlier.
The tip into deflation is expected to make further action to stimulate the zone's economy by the European Central Bank more likely.
The bank's inflation target is below but close to 2%.
The fall in prices was driven mainly by lower energy costs following the recent drop in the price of oil.
If energy prices are excluded, December's inflation rate for the eurozone was 0.6%, the same as in November.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-30707644
[h=1]Spillover effect of cheap oil: Bankruptcy shock[/h]Sherri McDaniel is already feeling the sting of the drop in crude oil prices from more than $115 per barrel in June to less than $50 in early January. She is president of ATEK Access Technologies, a small Minneapolis firm that owns TankScan, a wireless monitoring system that keeps track of fluid levels in oil tanks. Oil companies that use the system are starting to postpone orders, as they take a cautious approach to spending. "In the oil fields, they are starting to pull back pretty heavily," McDaniel said. "They are literally taking tanks and laying them down on their sides." As a result, she explained, "we have a number of big orders that are temporarily on hold." ATEK Access Technologies is one of many small and midsize firms that are already feeling the effects of lower oil prices. The causes of the decline are complicated, but they are an outgrowth of the domestic shale oil boom and a decision by OPEC, the cartel of oil-producing countries, not to rein in its own oil production in response. The result has been a price war. Some big oil firms are already cutting capital budgets and jobs in response to lower oil prices, but it is smaller players in the industry that are feeling the pain most acutely.
More than 20,000 small and midsize firms drive the "hydrocarbon revolution" in the U.S. that has helped the oil and gas industry thrive in recent years, and they produce more than 75 percent of the nation's oil and gas output, according to the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research's February 2014 Power & Growth Initiative Report. The Manhattan Institute is a conservative think tank in New York City. Read More Oil price declines have small-cap shale investors scrambling A sustained decline in prices could lead to layoffs at these firms, say experts. "The energy industry has been one of the job-growth areas leading us out of the recession," said Chad Mabry, a Houston-based analyst in the energy and natural resources research department of boutique investment bank MLV & Co. in New York City. "In 2015, that changes in this price environment," he said. "We're probably going to see some job losses on a fairy significant scale if this keeps up." Growth of jobs in the oil and gas industry greatly outpaced the private sector from 2007 to 2012, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. There was 40 percent growth in jobs in oil and gas, with 162,000 new jobs created, compared to 1 percent job growth in the private sector. By November 2014, 215,200 people worked in oil and gas extraction alone. And with job-related fields such as mining and quarrying factored in, employment in the industry hit 869,000, the BLS found.
Many of the new jobs are well-paying. Average hourly earnings in oil and gas extraction were $31.62 for nonsupervisory workers in October and $40.79 for all workers.
McDaniel said ATEK Access Technologies has the staying power to withstand the drop in oil prices. Her firm owns three brands that have combined revenues of $50 million and collectively provide jobs for 200 employees. However, she believes many owners are in a weaker position to wait it out. Read More Brent dips below $50 for first time since May 2009 The small firms that are hurting range from exploration ventures to consultancies.
Read More 'Small oil' could end up with a big debt problem Last week a small central Texas oil producer, WBH Energy Partners, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The financial troubles reportedly began in September when Minnesota debt investor Castlelake declined to provide more funds under a credit facility. The 3-year-old company had more than $30 million in liabilities and more than $10 million in assets. It had about 2,600 net acres of oil and gas land in North Texas Barnett shale combo play, a region rich in shale that overlaps with oil formations. The filing demonstrates how small oil producers are feeling the squeeze on two fronts-falling oil prices and spooked investors. Many industry experts say the struggles small players are facing are a harbinger of things to come, since there are many overextended producers who have not hedged their production well enough-a task that has gotten harder since big banks have exited the physical commodities business. Under pressure from an activist investor who wanted liquidity, Trevor Spagrud, president and CEO of Hyperion
HYX-V) Exploration, a publicly traded junior light oil and gas company in Calgary, Canada, was preparing in December for the sale of the roughly 4-year-old company to a Chinese firm, Tri-Win International Investment Group.
With drilling each well costing $3 million to $4 million when it used horizontal multistage fracking techniques, Hyperion was undercapitalized to deliver a "highly repeatable rate of return" in the immediate future, Spagrud said. Hyperion's team, about 16 people at its peak, had shrunk to eight as the company prepared for the sale.
Read More Price plunge puts oil patch jobs at risk "We could have tried to raise equity," he said. "When an activist investor gets involved, they quickly want full liquidity. We were somewhat hamstrung by that mandate. We have entered into a transaction to do that." Spagrud, an engineer, is planning to start another venture in the industry once the deal is completed. "It's been frustrating for so long, you just want to move on," he said.
At ClearHedging, a 2.5-year-old firm that provides risk-management hedging advice to oil and gas producers, Chicago-based executive director Brad Carmody said that while current clients are still using its services, new business is "definitely quiet." With prices so low, he explained, "there's no interest in hedging at all." He and partner A.J. McNally, based in the Greater New York City area, are now figuring out how to pivot in a new direction. "At the time we got into the business, the industry was booming. The price of oil was high," Carmody said. Now they're looking at "How do we apply our skill set outside of oil and gas?" Small vendors-ranging from those who lease out oil rigs to teams that assist in drilling and completing wells-are particularly vulnerable. Many operators who might need their services have been doing their capital budgeting for 2015, said MLV's Mabry, adding, "We've seen a pretty traumatic response. There are hundreds of millions in capital that won't be spent." For small and midcap firms in the industry, MLV was projecting a 10 percent to 15 percent growth in capital spending before prices plunged. It is now expecting a 20 percent to 25 percent decline, he said. "Everyone is on edge," Mabry said. "The companies we talked to said they haven't even gone back to their drilling contractors. Their vendors have come to them and said, `I know things are getting tight next year. We're willing to negotiate on rates and work with you in this environment.'" Some firms that serve the oil and gas industry are finding the lower prices have an upside. TempoIQ, a 14-employee start-up in Chicago, is among them. It offers a cloud-based software system that helps clients interpret data that come from sensors. Oil companies-comprising about 15 percent to 20 percent of its customer base-have used its technology to track data such as pressure readings from sensors on oil pipelines, said Justin DeLay, co-founder and chief marketing officer. Read More How low can we go? Picking the price of oil DeLay believes sensors-and the technology to interpret the data they gather-will likely become more important as oil companies look for efficiencies in their operations to offset lower fuel prices. "There is a big push for preventative maintenance," he said. "They are looking for early warning signs something is about to break." In the meantime, clients in other industries have more money to invest in technology now that their fuel costs have decreased, he said. "What we've been hearing is, `Hey, we've wanted to do a sensor project like this for a while but hadn't had the ability to do it because we haven't had enough money to do it,'" said DeLay.
More than 20,000 small and midsize firms drive the "hydrocarbon revolution" in the U.S. that has helped the oil and gas industry thrive in recent years, and they produce more than 75 percent of the nation's oil and gas output, according to the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research's February 2014 Power & Growth Initiative Report. The Manhattan Institute is a conservative think tank in New York City. Read More Oil price declines have small-cap shale investors scrambling A sustained decline in prices could lead to layoffs at these firms, say experts. "The energy industry has been one of the job-growth areas leading us out of the recession," said Chad Mabry, a Houston-based analyst in the energy and natural resources research department of boutique investment bank MLV & Co. in New York City. "In 2015, that changes in this price environment," he said. "We're probably going to see some job losses on a fairy significant scale if this keeps up." Growth of jobs in the oil and gas industry greatly outpaced the private sector from 2007 to 2012, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. There was 40 percent growth in jobs in oil and gas, with 162,000 new jobs created, compared to 1 percent job growth in the private sector. By November 2014, 215,200 people worked in oil and gas extraction alone. And with job-related fields such as mining and quarrying factored in, employment in the industry hit 869,000, the BLS found.
Many of the new jobs are well-paying. Average hourly earnings in oil and gas extraction were $31.62 for nonsupervisory workers in October and $40.79 for all workers.
McDaniel said ATEK Access Technologies has the staying power to withstand the drop in oil prices. Her firm owns three brands that have combined revenues of $50 million and collectively provide jobs for 200 employees. However, she believes many owners are in a weaker position to wait it out. Read More Brent dips below $50 for first time since May 2009 The small firms that are hurting range from exploration ventures to consultancies.
Read More 'Small oil' could end up with a big debt problem Last week a small central Texas oil producer, WBH Energy Partners, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The financial troubles reportedly began in September when Minnesota debt investor Castlelake declined to provide more funds under a credit facility. The 3-year-old company had more than $30 million in liabilities and more than $10 million in assets. It had about 2,600 net acres of oil and gas land in North Texas Barnett shale combo play, a region rich in shale that overlaps with oil formations. The filing demonstrates how small oil producers are feeling the squeeze on two fronts-falling oil prices and spooked investors. Many industry experts say the struggles small players are facing are a harbinger of things to come, since there are many overextended producers who have not hedged their production well enough-a task that has gotten harder since big banks have exited the physical commodities business. Under pressure from an activist investor who wanted liquidity, Trevor Spagrud, president and CEO of Hyperion
HYX-V) Exploration, a publicly traded junior light oil and gas company in Calgary, Canada, was preparing in December for the sale of the roughly 4-year-old company to a Chinese firm, Tri-Win International Investment Group.With drilling each well costing $3 million to $4 million when it used horizontal multistage fracking techniques, Hyperion was undercapitalized to deliver a "highly repeatable rate of return" in the immediate future, Spagrud said. Hyperion's team, about 16 people at its peak, had shrunk to eight as the company prepared for the sale.
Read More Price plunge puts oil patch jobs at risk "We could have tried to raise equity," he said. "When an activist investor gets involved, they quickly want full liquidity. We were somewhat hamstrung by that mandate. We have entered into a transaction to do that." Spagrud, an engineer, is planning to start another venture in the industry once the deal is completed. "It's been frustrating for so long, you just want to move on," he said.
At ClearHedging, a 2.5-year-old firm that provides risk-management hedging advice to oil and gas producers, Chicago-based executive director Brad Carmody said that while current clients are still using its services, new business is "definitely quiet." With prices so low, he explained, "there's no interest in hedging at all." He and partner A.J. McNally, based in the Greater New York City area, are now figuring out how to pivot in a new direction. "At the time we got into the business, the industry was booming. The price of oil was high," Carmody said. Now they're looking at "How do we apply our skill set outside of oil and gas?" Small vendors-ranging from those who lease out oil rigs to teams that assist in drilling and completing wells-are particularly vulnerable. Many operators who might need their services have been doing their capital budgeting for 2015, said MLV's Mabry, adding, "We've seen a pretty traumatic response. There are hundreds of millions in capital that won't be spent." For small and midcap firms in the industry, MLV was projecting a 10 percent to 15 percent growth in capital spending before prices plunged. It is now expecting a 20 percent to 25 percent decline, he said. "Everyone is on edge," Mabry said. "The companies we talked to said they haven't even gone back to their drilling contractors. Their vendors have come to them and said, `I know things are getting tight next year. We're willing to negotiate on rates and work with you in this environment.'" Some firms that serve the oil and gas industry are finding the lower prices have an upside. TempoIQ, a 14-employee start-up in Chicago, is among them. It offers a cloud-based software system that helps clients interpret data that come from sensors. Oil companies-comprising about 15 percent to 20 percent of its customer base-have used its technology to track data such as pressure readings from sensors on oil pipelines, said Justin DeLay, co-founder and chief marketing officer. Read More How low can we go? Picking the price of oil DeLay believes sensors-and the technology to interpret the data they gather-will likely become more important as oil companies look for efficiencies in their operations to offset lower fuel prices. "There is a big push for preventative maintenance," he said. "They are looking for early warning signs something is about to break." In the meantime, clients in other industries have more money to invest in technology now that their fuel costs have decreased, he said. "What we've been hearing is, `Hey, we've wanted to do a sensor project like this for a while but hadn't had the ability to do it because we haven't had enough money to do it,'" said DeLay.
