A brief history of petroleum
All of the oil world is divided into three:
1) The "upstream" comprises exploration and production;
2) The "midstream" are the tankers and pipelines that carry crude oil to refineries, and;
3) The "downstream" which includes refining, marketing, and distribution, right down to the corner gasoline station or convenient store.
A company that includes together significant upstream and downstream activities is said to be "integrated".
By generally accepted theory, crude oil is the residue of organic waste--primarily microscopic plankton floating in seas, and also land plants--that accumulated at the bottom of oceans, lakes, and coastal areas. Over millions of years, this organic matter, rich in carbon and hydrogen atoms, was collected beneath successive levels of sediments. Pressure and underground heat "cooked" the plant matter, converting it into hydrocarbons--oil and natural gas. The tiny droplets of oil liquid migrated through small pores and fractures in the rocks until they were trapped in permeable rocks, sealed by shale rocks on top and heavier salt water at the bottom.
Typically, in such a reservoir, the lightest gas fills the pores of the reservoir rock as a "gas cap" above the oil. When a drill bit penetrates the reservoir, the lower pressure inside the bit allows the oil fluid to flow into the well bore and then to the surface as a flowing well. "Gushers" - "oil fountains" as they were called in Russia--resulted from failure (or, at the time, inability) to manage the pressure of the rising oil. As production continues over time, the underground pressure runs down, and the wells need help to keep going, either from surface pumps or from gas reinjected back into the well, known as "gas lift". What comes to the surface is hot crude oil, sometimes accompanied by natural gas.
But as it flows from a well, crude oil itself is a commodity with very few direct uses. Virtually all crude is processed in a refinery to turn it into useful products like gasoline, jet fuel, home heating oil, and industrial fuel oil.
In the early years of the industry, a refinery was little more than a still where the crude was boiled and then the different products were condensed out at various temperatures. The skills required were not all that different from making moonshine, which is why whiskey makers went into oil refining in the nineteenth century. Today, a refinery is often a large, complex, sophisticated, and expensive manufacturing facility.
Crude oil is a mixture of petroleum liquids and gases in various combinations. Each of these compounds has some value, but only as they are isolated in the refining process. So, the first step in refining is to separate the crude into constituent parts. This is accomplished by thermal distillation--heating. The various components vaporize at different temperatures and then can be condensed back into pure "streams".
Some streams can be sold as they are. Others are put through further processes to obtain higher-value products. In simple refineries, these processes are primarily from the removal of unwanted impurities and to make minor changes in chemical properties. In more complex refineries, major restructuring of the molecules is carried out through chemical processes that are known as "cracking" or "conversion". The result is an increase in the quantity of higher-quality products, such as gasoline, and a decrease in the output of such lower-value products as fuel oil and asphalt.
Crude oil and refined products alike are today moved by tankers, pipelines, barges, and trucks. In Europe, oil is often officially measured in metric tons; in Japan, in kiloliters. But in the United States and Canada, and colloquially throughout the world, the basic unit remains in "barrel", though there is hardly an oil man today who has seen an old-fashioned crude oil barrel, except in a museum.
When oil first started flowing out of the wells in western Pennsylvania in the 1860's, desperate oil men ransacked farmhouses, barns, cellars, stores, and trashyards for any kind of barrel--molasses, beer, whiskey, cider, turpentine, sale, fish, and whatever else was handy. But as coopers began to make barrels specially for the oil trade, one standard size emerged, and that size continues to be the norm to the present. It is 42 gallons.
The number was borrowed from England, where a statute in 1482 under King Edward IV established 42 gallons as the standard size barrel for herring in order to end skullduggery and "divers deceits" in the packing of fish. At the time, herring fishing was the biggest business in the North Sea. By 1866, seven years after Colonel Drake drilled his well, Pennsylvania producers confirmed the 42-gallon barrel as their standard, as opposed to , say, the 31 1/2 gallon wine barrel or the 32 gallon London ale barrel or the 36 gallon London beer barrel.
And that, in a roundabout way, brings us right back to the present day. For the 42 gallon barrel is still used as the standard measurement, even if not as a physical receptacle, in the biggest business in the North Sea--which today of course in not herring, but oil.
Monday, January 12, 2009
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Investing In Oil And Gas
Whether you are an experienced investor or new to investing, Oil & Gas Today will help you make your next investment decision a well-informed one.
There are few things in life as rewarding as making great returns on your investments. We all love the feeling we get when seeing a chosen investment providing great returns on our money. You immediately know you made a wise and correct decision when excellent returns begin and continue.
OIL and GAS INVESTING FAQs
IS OIL AND GAS A PROFITABLE INVESTMENT?Yes. Oil & gas can be a very profitable investment. After all, some of the largest companies in the world are oil and gas companies.Investing in oil and gas can be accomplished in many ways; from purchasing stock in large public companies to partcipating in private, independent projects. You can invest in oil and gas exploration, refineries and service companies and you can invest through mutual funds or derivatives such as commodities futures.All of these investment areas in oil and gas are potentially profitable. However, as an investor you should try to analyze their varying degrees of risk and reward. One of the first factors of investing properly is trying to determine what your investment goals or objectives may be. As an example, it may be that you are looking to receive a 7 to 12 percent annual return. This type of return can be easily obtained with the purchase of stock from most of the well-known major or independent oil companies.Or, you may be looking for a rate of return in the 20 to 50 percent range. This can be accomplished by purchasing stock in aggressive small independents or by investing with service companies expanding into new markets.There is also potential to receive much higher rates of return - some exceed 100 percent - depending upon your ability as an investor to accept higher degrees of risk. Investing with independent operating companies on a direct participation investment is one option. This is similar to what the major companies do when they invest with each other in developing projects.They also reduce their risk by participating with other oil companies that are located in different geographic areas. It is not uncommon for oil companies to have a specific knowledge or infrastructure in different geographic regions. By sharing in developmental costs, the companies equally reduce risk and gain potential reserves by diversifying their risk.Yes, investing in the oil and gas industry can be very profitable. However, it is very important to have a good understanding of the type of programs, their structures, and your own level of risk.IS
OIL AND GAS A SAFE INVESTMENT?
Yes, investing in the oil and gas industry can be a safe investment. As we eluded to earlier, one of the safest investments is to own stock in what many consider to be "blue chip" companies known as the "Majors" in oil and gas.One incentive in investing in a "blue chip" company is that your level of risk is quite low. As a result, return levels are also fairly low. However, you will be making an investment in the oil and gas industry. If this is your main objective and you're looking for low risk, this may be a good and safe investment. On the other side of the coin: the higher the risk, the greater the return. Again, we come back to your investment objectives.One way our government helps address the issue of risk is that it allows companies that drill for and produce oil and gas to offset some of the cost through the use of tax deductions.Oil and gas are natural resources that deplete through extraction. In other words, these are not renewable energy sources and our tax code has allowed a depletion allowance of up to 15 to 20 percent*. In addition to the depletion allowance, we have intangible drilling costs as well as tangible drilling costs. There can be additional tax benefits depending upon what type of category a particular project falls into.For example, there are tax credits for drilling tight sands as well as unconventional reservoirs.Even though the tax benefits are very helpful in offsetting some of the risk for oil and gas, no consideration for an investment in oil and gas should be considered based on the tax benefits alone. Tax benefits are what they are - BENEFITS. These benefits are very useful, however, if it is taxes you are wanting to avoid, you would be much better off giving your money to a favorite charity.When investing in oil and gas there are many aspects of the industry to consider before determining a safe investment. Three of the main features are:
1) Your investment acumen. 2) Investment objectives. 3) What type of investment vehicle?
1) Investment Acumen: Investment acumen means insight or judgment. In other words, as an investor you need to have the knowledge to be able to ask the right questions and understand what is the right answer. That way, you will be able to make much better investment decisions. Safe decisions to invest or who to invest with are the first prerequisite to profitable investing.2) Investment Objectives: As we stated earlier, your investment goals, or potential returns, accompanied with the appropriate amount of risk can only be determined by you, the investor.As an example, if you are interested in analyzing the potential loss of your investment funds, you would be much better off investing in "blue chip" major oil company stocks. However, if you could accept a larger degree of risk, or in other words, potential loss of these investment funds, you may consider investing in projects that offer a higher rate of return. This leads us into our next category.3) Investment Vehicles: These vehicles may be stock, an investment fund, a drilling fund, private placement, commodities trading, or some combination of all of the above.These options bring us to the next section: What ways are there to invest
WHAT WAYS ARE THERE TO INVEST?
Major Oil Company Stock - All of the major oil companies that own the majority of reserves throughout the world are probably traded companies. As an investor interested in oil and gas, their stock can be considered one of the safest investments in oil and gas. However, as a general rule, they do not provide a high rate of return.
Medium-sized Oil and Gas Companies - Many of these are publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange, as well as the NASDAQ and other exchanges throughout the world. Again, these stocks can offer a higher rate of return, but potentially have more risk due to the fact that most of these companies are still acquiring assets and going through a growth process.
Mutual Funds - These focus their portfolios towards the energy industry. They may own stock in the majors, stock in independents or stock in companies that provided a variety of services for the oil and gas industry. There may even be some direct participation in oil and gas development or exploration projects.
Independent Oil and Gas Companies - There are over 4,000 independent oil and gas companies located in the United States. Many of these firms offer the opportunity to invest with independent producers in industry development projects as well as exploration. These direct participation investments are called private placement and can utilize the full capability of the tax benefits.
Private placements do offer a much higher rate of return and can, in most cases, have a much higher degree of risk.
One important fact to consider is that 90 percent of wells drilled on an annual basis in the United States are drilled by an independent oil company. These producers may vary in size from one-man shops to multi-level corporations.
Drilling Funds - In the early 1980s, many of the small independent companies that were publicly held provided funds that specifically targeted drilling projects.
Most drilling funds can be broken down into two general categories: 1.) Exploration Drilling and 2.) Developmental Drilling. Exploration Drilling is described as the search for oil or gas more than a mile away from any existing or proven economic oil or gas wells.
Developmental Drilling is typically categorized as wells designed to define or extend a proven field or existing production. This can be a step-out project to define the productive limits of a reservoir or can be considered in-field (or in-fill) drilling of a pattern of wells. It can be used in a waterflood development. Some types of horizontal drilling are considered developmental due to the fact that the drilling operations are being conducted in known reservoirs, thereby reducing the risk. Developmental drilling offers the highest profit potential of any oil and gas area, as well as significantly lowering the risk.
Commodities Trading - Oil and gas are traded on a daily basis in different exchanges throughout the world. Oil is the commodity that is most commonly referred to as West Texas Intermediate. This commodity is traded on a daily basis in contract increments of 5,000 barrels. Even though you are investing in the oil and gas industry, or one of the products of the industry, you would be described as a speculator.
Basically, what you are speculating, is whether or not the price for a certain commodity will move up or down. Speculating in oil and gas commodities can be a very volatile and turbulent market. As an investor, one should keep in mind that you are speculating in price movement and not the actual ownership of that commodity. Commodity trading has an extremely high degree of risk.
Royalty Funds - Generally speaking, a royalty fund is when royalty interests are being bought, sold and held by the funds sponsors. In nearly all leasing situations, once a lease has been developed, it provides a revenue stream. A portion of the revenue stream is set aside for royalty which generally amounts to 12.5 percent and overriding royalty and/or carried working interest of 2 to 5 percent.
In a royalty fund the objective of the fund is to generate its revenue from royalties that are held from different producing fields throughout the country. The main feature to owning a percentage of a royalty fund is that the royalty owner (or interest owner) pays no percentage of operating or developmental costs associated with the production of the oil or gas. Royalty programs generally offer a low risk factor along with a relatively low return. However, their main feature is that these types of programs last for many years.
Lease Acquisition Funds - The main feature with this type of fund is that the fund will retain a royalty for accumulating the leases that it will "turn" into an operating company. Generally, the funds are used for acquiring acreage in developing exploration plays. These types of acquisition programs offer a higher degree of risk, but can generate a significant return on equity if the sponsors of the fund are able to turn their acreage to other exploratory type oil companies.
Combination Funds - These are what they sound like, a combination of acquisition and drilling funds. Generally, this type of fund will target a regional-type oil development play whereby they will acquire existing properties and then do a developmental drilling program on the properties they have acquired. These types of programs generally have a high degree of success and offer an excellent rate of return as well as providing a minimal amount of risk.
To properly analyze these investment vehicles, it is important to devote the time and energy into understanding the company and its projects.
HOW DO I ASSESS A POTENTIAL OIL & GAS INVESTMENT?
Understanding or assessing potential really starts with a two phase process:
1) The company that will be sponsoring the program.
2) The property that the company will be developing or acquiring.
The CompanyOne of the best ways I have found to analyze the company is to look at their management and track record. Look for solid financial records as well as integrity in their management and operations. The easiest way to find this information is to ask the company for what is commonly called a Due Diligence document.A due diligence is basically a summary report of the company, its management, its staff, reserves, inventory, equipment and track record.
From the due diligence you should be able to determine how well an investor has fared in prior programs, how economical the programs have been and how sound the proposed undertaking might be. Technical due diligence will help eliminate most of the unsound investment proposals.
One area of the due diligence I like to focus on is "Prior Activities."
Basically, this will summarize the programs the firm or company has drilled in the past and how they have fared. Prior activities will cover when the offer commenced, the amount of the offering, the minimum size of units, the method of offering (private or public), the number of wells in the project and the type of wells (development, waterflood, exploration). It will also cover the net revenue, the frequency of payments (monthly, quarterly, dry hole) and it should also state the amount of the promoted interest.
The projects should then be summarized by lease name and a yearly account of the gross revenue, operating expenses, net revenue and cumulative barrels. You should be able to determine an average return on revenue as well as a total return on investment. I have found that these numbers can and will provide you with a fairly accurate track record of the types of projects that this company has developed.
As an investor you should try to determine the credibility of the company under investigation. One of the best ways I've found is to refer to the section of the due diligence covering corporate references. Here you will find a list of references and areas in which they do business. It may be accounting, supply stores, service companies, etc.
TIP - refer to the company that purchases the oil or gas that the firm has produced. Call the crude oil buyer (or gas purchaser) and they will be able to give you an objective opinion about the company you may be interested in. After all, this is the focal point of all exploration and development companies. The bottom line is whether or not the company has the ability to find and produce oil and gas on an ongoing and daily basis.
There are few things in life as rewarding as making great returns on your investments. We all love the feeling we get when seeing a chosen investment providing great returns on our money. You immediately know you made a wise and correct decision when excellent returns begin and continue.
OIL and GAS INVESTING FAQs
IS OIL AND GAS A PROFITABLE INVESTMENT?Yes. Oil & gas can be a very profitable investment. After all, some of the largest companies in the world are oil and gas companies.Investing in oil and gas can be accomplished in many ways; from purchasing stock in large public companies to partcipating in private, independent projects. You can invest in oil and gas exploration, refineries and service companies and you can invest through mutual funds or derivatives such as commodities futures.All of these investment areas in oil and gas are potentially profitable. However, as an investor you should try to analyze their varying degrees of risk and reward. One of the first factors of investing properly is trying to determine what your investment goals or objectives may be. As an example, it may be that you are looking to receive a 7 to 12 percent annual return. This type of return can be easily obtained with the purchase of stock from most of the well-known major or independent oil companies.Or, you may be looking for a rate of return in the 20 to 50 percent range. This can be accomplished by purchasing stock in aggressive small independents or by investing with service companies expanding into new markets.There is also potential to receive much higher rates of return - some exceed 100 percent - depending upon your ability as an investor to accept higher degrees of risk. Investing with independent operating companies on a direct participation investment is one option. This is similar to what the major companies do when they invest with each other in developing projects.They also reduce their risk by participating with other oil companies that are located in different geographic areas. It is not uncommon for oil companies to have a specific knowledge or infrastructure in different geographic regions. By sharing in developmental costs, the companies equally reduce risk and gain potential reserves by diversifying their risk.Yes, investing in the oil and gas industry can be very profitable. However, it is very important to have a good understanding of the type of programs, their structures, and your own level of risk.IS
OIL AND GAS A SAFE INVESTMENT?
Yes, investing in the oil and gas industry can be a safe investment. As we eluded to earlier, one of the safest investments is to own stock in what many consider to be "blue chip" companies known as the "Majors" in oil and gas.One incentive in investing in a "blue chip" company is that your level of risk is quite low. As a result, return levels are also fairly low. However, you will be making an investment in the oil and gas industry. If this is your main objective and you're looking for low risk, this may be a good and safe investment. On the other side of the coin: the higher the risk, the greater the return. Again, we come back to your investment objectives.One way our government helps address the issue of risk is that it allows companies that drill for and produce oil and gas to offset some of the cost through the use of tax deductions.Oil and gas are natural resources that deplete through extraction. In other words, these are not renewable energy sources and our tax code has allowed a depletion allowance of up to 15 to 20 percent*. In addition to the depletion allowance, we have intangible drilling costs as well as tangible drilling costs. There can be additional tax benefits depending upon what type of category a particular project falls into.For example, there are tax credits for drilling tight sands as well as unconventional reservoirs.Even though the tax benefits are very helpful in offsetting some of the risk for oil and gas, no consideration for an investment in oil and gas should be considered based on the tax benefits alone. Tax benefits are what they are - BENEFITS. These benefits are very useful, however, if it is taxes you are wanting to avoid, you would be much better off giving your money to a favorite charity.When investing in oil and gas there are many aspects of the industry to consider before determining a safe investment. Three of the main features are:
1) Your investment acumen. 2) Investment objectives. 3) What type of investment vehicle?
1) Investment Acumen: Investment acumen means insight or judgment. In other words, as an investor you need to have the knowledge to be able to ask the right questions and understand what is the right answer. That way, you will be able to make much better investment decisions. Safe decisions to invest or who to invest with are the first prerequisite to profitable investing.2) Investment Objectives: As we stated earlier, your investment goals, or potential returns, accompanied with the appropriate amount of risk can only be determined by you, the investor.As an example, if you are interested in analyzing the potential loss of your investment funds, you would be much better off investing in "blue chip" major oil company stocks. However, if you could accept a larger degree of risk, or in other words, potential loss of these investment funds, you may consider investing in projects that offer a higher rate of return. This leads us into our next category.3) Investment Vehicles: These vehicles may be stock, an investment fund, a drilling fund, private placement, commodities trading, or some combination of all of the above.These options bring us to the next section: What ways are there to invest
WHAT WAYS ARE THERE TO INVEST?
Major Oil Company Stock - All of the major oil companies that own the majority of reserves throughout the world are probably traded companies. As an investor interested in oil and gas, their stock can be considered one of the safest investments in oil and gas. However, as a general rule, they do not provide a high rate of return.
Medium-sized Oil and Gas Companies - Many of these are publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange, as well as the NASDAQ and other exchanges throughout the world. Again, these stocks can offer a higher rate of return, but potentially have more risk due to the fact that most of these companies are still acquiring assets and going through a growth process.
Mutual Funds - These focus their portfolios towards the energy industry. They may own stock in the majors, stock in independents or stock in companies that provided a variety of services for the oil and gas industry. There may even be some direct participation in oil and gas development or exploration projects.
Independent Oil and Gas Companies - There are over 4,000 independent oil and gas companies located in the United States. Many of these firms offer the opportunity to invest with independent producers in industry development projects as well as exploration. These direct participation investments are called private placement and can utilize the full capability of the tax benefits.
Private placements do offer a much higher rate of return and can, in most cases, have a much higher degree of risk.
One important fact to consider is that 90 percent of wells drilled on an annual basis in the United States are drilled by an independent oil company. These producers may vary in size from one-man shops to multi-level corporations.
Drilling Funds - In the early 1980s, many of the small independent companies that were publicly held provided funds that specifically targeted drilling projects.
Most drilling funds can be broken down into two general categories: 1.) Exploration Drilling and 2.) Developmental Drilling. Exploration Drilling is described as the search for oil or gas more than a mile away from any existing or proven economic oil or gas wells.
Developmental Drilling is typically categorized as wells designed to define or extend a proven field or existing production. This can be a step-out project to define the productive limits of a reservoir or can be considered in-field (or in-fill) drilling of a pattern of wells. It can be used in a waterflood development. Some types of horizontal drilling are considered developmental due to the fact that the drilling operations are being conducted in known reservoirs, thereby reducing the risk. Developmental drilling offers the highest profit potential of any oil and gas area, as well as significantly lowering the risk.
Commodities Trading - Oil and gas are traded on a daily basis in different exchanges throughout the world. Oil is the commodity that is most commonly referred to as West Texas Intermediate. This commodity is traded on a daily basis in contract increments of 5,000 barrels. Even though you are investing in the oil and gas industry, or one of the products of the industry, you would be described as a speculator.
Basically, what you are speculating, is whether or not the price for a certain commodity will move up or down. Speculating in oil and gas commodities can be a very volatile and turbulent market. As an investor, one should keep in mind that you are speculating in price movement and not the actual ownership of that commodity. Commodity trading has an extremely high degree of risk.
Royalty Funds - Generally speaking, a royalty fund is when royalty interests are being bought, sold and held by the funds sponsors. In nearly all leasing situations, once a lease has been developed, it provides a revenue stream. A portion of the revenue stream is set aside for royalty which generally amounts to 12.5 percent and overriding royalty and/or carried working interest of 2 to 5 percent.
In a royalty fund the objective of the fund is to generate its revenue from royalties that are held from different producing fields throughout the country. The main feature to owning a percentage of a royalty fund is that the royalty owner (or interest owner) pays no percentage of operating or developmental costs associated with the production of the oil or gas. Royalty programs generally offer a low risk factor along with a relatively low return. However, their main feature is that these types of programs last for many years.
Lease Acquisition Funds - The main feature with this type of fund is that the fund will retain a royalty for accumulating the leases that it will "turn" into an operating company. Generally, the funds are used for acquiring acreage in developing exploration plays. These types of acquisition programs offer a higher degree of risk, but can generate a significant return on equity if the sponsors of the fund are able to turn their acreage to other exploratory type oil companies.
Combination Funds - These are what they sound like, a combination of acquisition and drilling funds. Generally, this type of fund will target a regional-type oil development play whereby they will acquire existing properties and then do a developmental drilling program on the properties they have acquired. These types of programs generally have a high degree of success and offer an excellent rate of return as well as providing a minimal amount of risk.
To properly analyze these investment vehicles, it is important to devote the time and energy into understanding the company and its projects.
HOW DO I ASSESS A POTENTIAL OIL & GAS INVESTMENT?
Understanding or assessing potential really starts with a two phase process:
1) The company that will be sponsoring the program.
2) The property that the company will be developing or acquiring.
The CompanyOne of the best ways I have found to analyze the company is to look at their management and track record. Look for solid financial records as well as integrity in their management and operations. The easiest way to find this information is to ask the company for what is commonly called a Due Diligence document.A due diligence is basically a summary report of the company, its management, its staff, reserves, inventory, equipment and track record.
From the due diligence you should be able to determine how well an investor has fared in prior programs, how economical the programs have been and how sound the proposed undertaking might be. Technical due diligence will help eliminate most of the unsound investment proposals.
One area of the due diligence I like to focus on is "Prior Activities."
Basically, this will summarize the programs the firm or company has drilled in the past and how they have fared. Prior activities will cover when the offer commenced, the amount of the offering, the minimum size of units, the method of offering (private or public), the number of wells in the project and the type of wells (development, waterflood, exploration). It will also cover the net revenue, the frequency of payments (monthly, quarterly, dry hole) and it should also state the amount of the promoted interest.
The projects should then be summarized by lease name and a yearly account of the gross revenue, operating expenses, net revenue and cumulative barrels. You should be able to determine an average return on revenue as well as a total return on investment. I have found that these numbers can and will provide you with a fairly accurate track record of the types of projects that this company has developed.
As an investor you should try to determine the credibility of the company under investigation. One of the best ways I've found is to refer to the section of the due diligence covering corporate references. Here you will find a list of references and areas in which they do business. It may be accounting, supply stores, service companies, etc.
TIP - refer to the company that purchases the oil or gas that the firm has produced. Call the crude oil buyer (or gas purchaser) and they will be able to give you an objective opinion about the company you may be interested in. After all, this is the focal point of all exploration and development companies. The bottom line is whether or not the company has the ability to find and produce oil and gas on an ongoing and daily basis.
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