Natural Gas
Gazprom embraces Europe a little more closely
Russia’s state-owned natural gas giant Gazprom (OGZPY, quote) will take over natural gas trading and storage businesses it jointly owns with the world’s largest chemical company, Germany’s BASF (BASFY, quote), as part of an asset swap meant to avoid further winter supply disruptions to Europe that have occurred in recent years.
Petroleo Brasileiro on the rebound with more potential upside
Brazilian oil and natural gas company Petroleo Brasileiro (PBR, quote) (a.k.a. Petrobras) has rebounded recently, up 8.12% for the week and 17.35% for the month. Over the same time periods, the main exchange traded fund for oil, United States Oil (USO, quote), has risen by 2.29% and 8.23%, respectively.
Up from record heat, UNG and CORN will cool off
Although there would not seem to be an obvious correlation between natural gas (UNG, quote) and corn (CORN, quote), the record heat in the United States has resulted in one. Both the exchange traded funds for natural gas and corn are up as a result of the heat; both will likely fall once the weather cools.
Tuesday’s best web
Tuesday’s best web covers development in the Philippines, India’s difficulty importing gas and oil, an investment idea involving China and Africa, Brazilian central bank efforts to alter their federal public debt profile, and economic headwinds for South Africa.
Monday Best Web
Monday’s best web covers McDonald’s fight for market share in India, BP’s contract to supply LNG to Israel, Yandex’s foray into Turkey, power supply concerns in Indonesia, and the South American inter-continental highway.
Petrobras shares will pay investors to wait
Brazil’s oil industry and Petroleo Brasileiro S.A. (PBR, quote) have great potential. Petrobras shares have floundered in recent trading due to the falling price of oil (USO, quote), but this is still a dividend-paying stock with a huge upside. While Brazil still imports oil, the gap between domestic production and consumption is dwindling.
