Petrolimex Wins Laos Investment Contract

- Petrolimex Wins Laos Investment Contract

Monday, September 12, 2011
Vietnam National Petroleum Corp.

Vietnam National Petroleum Corp. (Petrolimex) on Saturday received an investment license in Laos.

The investment license granting ceremony was held during the Vietnam-Laos Cooperation and Investment Conference at the International Convention Center with the presence of H.E Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam Government and H.E Prime Minister Thongsing Thammavong of the People's Democratic Republic of Laos Government.

Petrolimex investment project in Laos was granted license No. 452/BKHDT-DTRNN of June 21st, 2011, by which Petrolimex would directly conduct business activities in Laos with the cooperation of Chevron.

Chevron is the world third-largest oil group in oil reserve and the fourth largest in oil and natural gas exploitation.

Petrolimex and Chevron are partners in energy sector, having good cooperation and mutual trust.

This investment project in Laos is in line with Petrolimex development strategy. Besides, the project contributes to the materialization of agreements between Vietnam-Laos governments in the direction of all-sided cooperation, in conformity with the tradition of friendship and special solidarity between Vietnam and Laos.

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Fitch Confirms NRG Rating

- Fitch Confirms NRG Rating



Aug 9, 2011

Fitch Ratings on Tuesday confirmed its noninvestment-grade "B+" overall credit rating for wholesale power company NRG Energy Inc.(NYSE:NRG).

The credit rating agency also gave its "BB+" rating to NRG's new first line facilities and affirmed its "BB" rating on the company's unsecured notes. The outlook is stable.

Fitch pointed to the diversity of NRG's power plants in terms of size, fuel location, along with its improved business risk profile, strong liquidity position and historically conservative hedging strategy, as grounds for the ratings.

Fitch said it expects NRG's credit metrics to bottom out in 2013 and for its solid liquidity profile to allow it to navigate a continued drop in commodity prices.

NRG Energy has a potential upside of 28.7% based on a current price of $21.24 and an average consensus analyst price target of $27.33.

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White House announces oil savings standards for heavy duty trucks, buses

- White House announces oil savings standards for heavy duty trucks, buses



Aug 9, 2011

The Obama administration announced new fuel efficiency and greenhouse gas pollution standards for work trucks, buses, and other heavy duty vehicles that it said will save American businesses who operate and own these commercial vehicles approximately $50B in fuel costs over the life of the program. Under the guidelines, trucks and buses built in 2014 through 2018 will reduce oil consumption by a projected 530M barrels and greenhouse gas pollution by approximately 270M metric tons.

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ReneSola Reported Q2 Results; Issued Guidance

- ReneSola Reported Q2 Results; Issued Guidance



Aug 9, 2011

ReneSola (NYSE:SOL) reported Q2 EPS of $0.02, missing consensus estimates of $0.16 per share. Revenues fell 1.8% year-over-year to $249.3 million, vs. consensus estimates of $147.6 million.

Mr. Xianshou Li, ReneSola's chief executive officer said, "Both wafer and module prices fell faster than expected in the second quarter as European subsidy cuts weakened demand and led to oversupply in the industry. Although this affected both our top and bottom lines, we were able to maintain a gross margin of 18.4% with our industry-low wafer processing costs and growing in-house polysilicon production. Our new Virtus wafer, a multicrystalline wafer that can achieve cell efficiency rates of up to 18.2%, has an even higher profit margin than our existing wafers and has been well-received by clients with its high efficiency-to-price ratio. We expect Virtus wafers to replace all of ReneSola's existing multicrystalline wafers by the end of 2011. As the solar market matures, we will continue to focus on wafer production to capitalize on our brand name, scale of operations and innovative technologies to lead the industry in cost-competitive solar manufacturing."

The company expects Q3 revenues of $220 to $240 million, vs. consensus estimates of $166.63 million.

Renesola has a potential upside of 132.4% based on a current price of $2.77 and an average consensus analyst price target of $6.43.

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El Paso Pipeline Partners Missed Q2 Estimates, Top Line Up 9%

- El Paso Pipeline Partners Missed Q2 Estimates, Top Line Up 9%



Aug 4, 2011

El Paso Pipeline Partners (NYSE:EPB) reported Q2 EPS of $0.50, missing consensus estimates of $0.54 per share. Revenues for the quarter rose 9.1% year-over-year to $358.0 million, missing consensus estimates of $360.8 million.

Jim Yardley, president and chief executive officer of El Paso Pipeline Partners said, "We continue to deliver superior results for our unitholders with another quarter of higher earnings and cash flow. Our portfolio of high-quality assets continues to grow through acquisitions and expansions. During the quarter, we completed the acquisition of additional interests in CIG and SNG, and now own 100 percent of SNG. We also placed into service additional expansion projects which brings our total to fourteen in less than three years. Our successful acquisitions and expansions have enabled us to deliver consistent distribution growth, as we have increased quarterly distributions every quarter since our IPO in 2007."

El Paso Pipeline Partners has a potential upside of 19.4% based on a current price of $35.29 and an average consensus analyst price target of $42.15.

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El Paso Topped Q2 EPS Estimates By $0.10 Per Share

- El Paso Topped Q2 EPS Estimates By $0.10 Per Share



Aug 4, 2011

El Paso (NYSE:EP) reported Q2 EPS of $0.34, ahead of consensus estimates of $0.24 per share.

Doug Foshee, chairman, president, and chief executive officer of El Paso Corporation said, "We are very pleased with our financial and operational performance. With the completion of our Ruby Pipeline, we have placed three major projects into service this year and will complete two more by year end. And with natural gas likely to be the cornerstone for growth in electric power development, we continue to see exciting growth opportunities on the horizon. Execution in our E&P business is outstanding, with oil programs ramping up with results that are equal to or better than expectations. We are very encouraged by the completion of our first 7,000 foot plus lateral in the Wolfcamp Shale, and we see this program delivering many years of very profitable development across our large acreage position. On the financial front, we continue to make excellent progress, improving our balance sheet primarily through drop downs to El Paso Pipeline Partners. This progress has put us in position to separate into two outstanding companies by year end. We believe this is a great time to be a shareholder of El Paso."

El Paso has a potential upside of 27.7% based on a current price of $19.49 and an average consensus analyst price target of $24.89.

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GM Topped Estimates For Q2, Rose 18.7% YoY

- GM Topped Estimates For Q2, Rose 18.7% YoY



Aug 4, 2011

General Motors (NYSE:GM) reported adjusted Q2 EPS of $1.54, better than analyst estimates of a $1.20 per share. Revenues for the quarter rose 18.7% year-over-year to $39.40 billion, topping consensus estimates of $36.71 billion.

GM Chairman and CEO Dan Akerson said in a statement, "GM's investments in fuel economy, design and quality are paying off around the world."

General Motors (NYSE:GM) has a potential upside of 59.9% based on a current price of $27.17 and an average consensus analyst price target of $43.45.

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Toyota July Auto Sales Slip 20%

- Toyota July Auto Sales Slip 20%



Aug 2, 2011

Toyota Motor Sales USA Inc.(NYSE:TM) announced Tuesday that its July U.S. sales fell 22.7% as it continued to deal with parts shortages stemming from the March earthquake and tsunami in Japan.

Toyota sold 130,802 vehicles in July, compared to the 169,224 in the same month last year.

The Japanese automaker sold 27,016 of its Camry car, 22.9% down from 35,058 in July 2010.

Corolla sales dropped 35.7% to 17,577, while sales of the Prius hybrid, which is made only in Japan, tumbled 43.9% to 7,907.

Sales of the Sienna minivan rose 2.3 percent to 10,620.

Toyota Motor has a potential upside of 12.7% based on a current price of $81.96 and an average consensus analyst price target of $92.4.

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GM July Sales Rise 8%

- GM July Sales Rise 8%



Aug 2, 2011

General Motors Company (NYSE:GM) says its U.S. sales climbed almost 8% last month, led by fuel-efficient vehicles such as the Chevrolet Cruze car.

But GM's increase may not be the standard. Analysts foretell that sales of new cars and light trucks in the U.S. rose slightly from a year earlier as few deals and economic worries kept car shoppers home.

Vice President of Sales Don Johnson reports that unemployment, low consumer confidence and uncertainty over the federal debt ceiling scared some buyers off.

GM sold 214,915 vehicles in July, including almost 25,000 Cruzes. That could potentially make it America's top-selling car for the second straight month.

Sales of the Chevrolet Equinox and GMC Terrain small crossovers rose nearly 80%.

General Motors has a potential upside of 56.8% based on a current price of $27.71 and an average consensus analyst price target of $43.45.

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Trina Solar Shares Slip

- Trina Solar Shares Slip



Aug 2, 2011

Shares of Trina Solar Ltd.(NYSE:TSL) fell over 6% Tuesday in premarket trading after the company lowered its expectation for shipments of solar modules and profit margins in the second quarter.

Trina, a Chinese solar module maker, reported that it expects to report module shipments in the range of 395 to 397 megawatts for the three month period ended June 30. The company formerly said it would ship between 430 and 450 megawatts. Overall profit margins also were lowered to between 17 and 17.5%, compared with earlier forecasts of margin percentages in the "low 20s."

Company officials said shipments and profit margins suffered as demand for solar modules slowed down, in part because Italy cut solar subsidies.

Chairman and CEO Jifan Gao said, "We expect a significant improvement in production costs and an increase in shipment volumes in the third quarter."

Trina retained its prediction for 2011 shipments between 1.75 and 1.8 gigawatts. That's a rise of 65.6 to 70.3% from last year. The company will report its second-quarter results on Aug. 23.

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U.S. Consumer Spending Stalled In June

- U.S. Consumer Spending Stalled In June



Aug 2, 2011

U.S. consumer spending stalled in June as a drop in hiring caused households to cut back, according to the Commerce Department in a report on Tuesday.

In June purchases June rose 0.1% after not much change, while personal incomes likely increased 0.2% in June, the smallest gain in seven months.

Because of the lack of jobs in combination with wage gains have failed to keep pace with inflation, it raises the risk of further cut backs on consumer spending that accounts for 70% of the world's largest economy.

The Gross domestic product increased to a 1.3% annually rate from April in the course of June after a 0.4% gain in the previous quarter that was less than what was earlier expected. Household spending increased 0.1%, the weakest performance since the Q2 of 2009, the end of the last recession.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said in semi-annual testimony to Congress on July 13, "Wages are very stagnant and that's affecting consumer spending and consumer confidence. There is also ongoing uncertainty about the durability of the recovery."

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Tesoro Fined For Refinery Violations

- Tesoro Fined For Refinery Violations



Jul 26, 2011

Oil giant Tesoro Corp.(NYSE:TSO) has arranged to pay $500,000 in fines for dozens of air pollution violations at its refinery in Martinez.

The Bay Area Air Quality Management District reported the settlement to the San Antonio-based company on Monday. District officials say emissions from the Golden Eagle refinery often surpassed air-quality standards for carbon monoxide, soot and other pollutants between 2006 and 2009.

The refinery was also fined for failing to fix leaky equipment and failing to correctly sample and monitor pollution during that period. In total, Tesoro collected 46 different citations.

Company spokesman Mike Marcy tells the Contra Costa Times while the violations were regrettable, they were reported by the company for the most part. He also claimed that 40% of them were for paperwork errors.

Tesoro has a potential upside of 12.5% based on a current price of $25.48 and an average consensus analyst price target of $28.67.

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Anadarko Petroleum Topped Q2 EPS Estimates

- Anadarko Petroleum Topped Q2 EPS Estimates



Jul 25, 2011

Anadarko Petroleum (NYSE:APC) announced Q2 EPS of $1.14, ex-items, ahead of consensus estimates of $0.95 per share. During the quarter, sales volumes totaled 62 million barrels of oil equivalent, or 685,000 BOE per day, averaging about 2.3 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day, 225,000 barrels of oil per day, and 72,000 barrels of natural gas liquids per day.

Anadarko Chairman and CEO Jim Hackett said, "We achieved record liquids sales volumes during the quarter, enhancing margins and generating excellent cash flows. Nearly all of the year-over-year volume growth was attributable to a 34,000 barrel-per-day increase in liquids volumes. These results contributed to strong discretionary cash flows of more than $1.8 billion -- approximately $117 million above our capital expenditures, which included a one-time cash investment of $518 million associated with the acquisition of the Wattenberg plant."

Anadarko Petroleum has a potential upside of 15.4% based on a current price of $82.58 and an average consensus analyst price target of $95.26.

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Exxon Mobil's Marine Affiliate Announces Plan For Two New Tankers

- Exxon Mobil's Marine Affiliate Announces Plan For Two New Tankers



Jul 25, 2011

Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) U.S. marine affiliate, SeaRiver Maritime, signed a letter of intetn with Aker Philadelphia Shipyard for the construction of two U.S. flag, crude, oil tankers in partnership with Samsung Heavy Industries.

The vessels will be used to transport Alaska North Sloe crude oil from Prince William Sound, Alaska to U.S. West Coast destinations. Project planning work is underway with construction of the 115,000 deadweight ton tankers expected to begin by mid-2012.

The vessels are scheduled for delivery in 2014 and will be capable of carrying 730,000 barrels of crude oil to help meet U.S. energy needs. They will replace two double hull tankers.

Will Jenkins, president of SeaRiver said, "Today's announcement is consistent with our long-term ongoing commitment to safe and reliable marine transportation in the United States and throughout the world. These new vessels will provide jobs for American shipyard workers and help support energy needs along the U.S. West Coast for decades to come."

Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) has a potential upside of 9.3% based on a current price of $85.08 and an average consensus analyst price target of $92.96.

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Harley-Davidson Beats EPS Estimates, Sees Growth in 2011

- Harley-Davidson Beats EPS Estimates, Sees Growth in 2011



Jul 19, 2011

Harley Davidson (NYSE:HOG) reported quarter results of $0.81 per share above consensus estimates of $0.71. Revenue for the quarter rose 18% year-over-year to $1.34 billion ahead of consensus estimates of $1.26 billion.

The Company raised shipment guidance for 2011 and now expects to ship 228,000 to 235,000 Harley-Davidson motorcycles to dealers and distributors worldwide, compared to guidance provided April 19, 2011 of 215,000 to 228,000 motorcycles. In the third quarter of 2011, the Company expects to ship 60,000 to 65,000 motorcycles. For all of 2010, the Company shipped 210,494 motorcycles.

Harley-Davidson is currently above its 50-day moving average (MA) of $38.24 and above its 200-day of $36.91.

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Department of Energy Grants DTE Energy $5.4M

- Department of Energy Grants DTE Energy $5.4M



Jul 14, 2011

DTE Energy (NYSE:DTE) received a $5.4 million federal grant through the Clean Energy Coalition to fund the conversion of more than 170 gasoline-powered fleet vehicles to use compacted natural gas.

The grant that was awarded to Clean Energy Coalition's Green Fleets program by the U.S. Department of Energy under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act also pays for the building of two new CNG fueling stations and the refurbishment of 11 others across the state of Michigan.

DTE Energy has a potential upside of 1.3% based on a current price of $50.08 and an average consensus analyst price target of $50.71.

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ConocoPhillips to Split Into Two Next Year

- ConocoPhillips to Split Into Two Next Year



Jul 14, 2011

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) announced Thursday that it will be splitting into two companies. The division should take place sometime in the first half of 2012.

James J. Mulva, the ConocoPhillips chairman and chief executive, said in a statement, "We have concluded that two independent companies focused on their respective industries will be better positioned to pursue their individually focused business strategies."

ConocoPhillips has a potential upside of 13.4% based on a current price of $74.4 and an average consensus analyst price target of $84.38.

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GE Unit Receives $45M Contract to supply TLP Tensioner System for Chevron

- GE Unit Receives $45M Contract to supply TLP Tensioner System for Chevron



Jul 6, 2011

GE (NYSE:GE) Oil & Gas' Drilling & Production business has been awarded a contract of approximately $45M to supply and service the industry's largest tension leg platform to Chevron (NYSE:CVX) for deployment in its Big Foot oil and gas field in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico. Installation of the TLP is scheduled to begin in November 2012 and first oil is expected in 2014.

Chevron has a potential upside of 17.1% based on a current price of $104.86 and an average consensus analyst price target of $122.75.

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Apache Corp Announced The Results Of Two Development Wells

- Apache Corp Announced The Results Of Two Development Wells



Jul 6, 2011

Apache Corp. (NASDAQ:APA) announced the results of two development wells completed in June at the company's Forties field in the UK sector of the North Sea.

Charlie 4-3 commenced production at a rate of 12,567 barrels of oil per day (b/d), which is the highest in the Forties since 1990 and follows the previously disclosed Charlie 2-2, completed in March with an initial production rate of 11,876 b/d. Delta 3-5 commenced production at 8,781 b/d.

The company acquired a new 4-D seismic survey over Forties during 2010, enhancing the company's ability to identify accumulations of by-passed oil within the field area.

James L. House, region vice president and managing director of Apache North Sea Ltd. said, "The safe and very successful delivery of our 2011 drilling program reflects the experience, teamwork, technical skill and commitment of the Apache North Sea region."

Apache has a potential upside of 18.1% based on a current price of $124.49 and an average consensus analyst price target of $147.05.

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UK Govt Raises Field Allowance for N. Sea Investment

- UK Govt Raises Field Allowance for N. Sea Investment

Tuesday, July 05, 2011
HM Treasury

The Government announced that the annual rate of the Ring Fence Expenditure Supplement (RFES) for the North Sea fiscal regime will be increased from 6% to 10%, following discussions with industry initiated at the 2011 Budget. This provides extra support for investment in the North Sea, including in marginal fields that qualify for the current field allowance, and will also support the ongoing considerations on new categories of field allowance.

In the Budget, as part of a package of measures to help motorists cope with high petrol prices, the Government announced a Fair Fuel Stabilizer that would be funded by higher taxation of the profits from oil and gas companies when oil prices are high. The Government said at that time that it would consider with the oil and gas industry the case for a new category of field that would qualify for field allowance to support investment in marginal fields.

In the course of those discussions with industry, the Government has identified that the ability of a company to benefit fully from the field allowance is dependent on whether a company has sufficient current taxable income against which to off-set expenditure. This is addressed to some extent by the Ring Fence Expenditure Supplement, which currently allows companies with insufficient taxable income to uprate losses by 6% for six accounting periods.

The increase to 10% announced today will help ensure existing field allowances work more effectively and equitably to support investment in marginal fields. It also brings RFES in line with the discount rate typically used by the sector.

The Government will continue to engage with oil and gas companies on the case for new categories of field qualifying for field allowance.

Justine Greening, Economic Secretary to the Treasury, said, "The Government was clear at the Budget that it would engage with oil and gas companies, including to consider the case for further support for marginal projects. Today's change demonstrates our commitment to ensure current allowances work effectively and equitably, and lays the groundwork for further constructive discussions on field allowances."

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