Nouriel Roubini gives an audience no shortage of scenarios to keep them up at night, but his number one worry right now is the looming threat of Iran building nuclear weapons. Specifically, it’s the risk of a confrontation between Israel and Iran, or the United States and Iran, Roubini told Michael Milken in front of hundreds of onlookers at the Milken Institute Global Conference in Los Angeles Wednesday. Roubini, a notorious doomsayer and chairman of Roubini Global Economics, expects both Iran’s push into nuclear weapons and the pushback from Iran and Israel to ramp up in the second half of 2012.
Oil
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ExxonMobil disclosed a steeper-than-expected 11% drop-off in first-quarter profits on Thursday as the energy heavyweight was hurt by its chemical and exploration and production divisions. Shares of the world’s largest publicly traded energy company retreated more than 1% in the wake of the earnings miss.Irving, Tex.-based Exxon said it earned $9.45 billion, or $2 a share, last quarter, compared with a profit of $10.65 billion, or $2.14 a share, a year earlier. Analysts had been calling for more robust EPS of $2.09. Revenue jumped 8.8% to $124.05 billion, but that also trailed forecasts from Wall Street, which expected $124.76 billion. “First quarter results reflect our ongoing focus on developing and delivering energy needed to support job creation and economic growth,” CEO Rex Tillerson said in a statement.
A plan by Delta Air Lines to buy a Pennsylvania refinery and save itself $300 million a year in jet fuel costs is an audacious move that may prompt its competitors to follow suit in a bid to control their biggest single expense, analysts said.
But the airline may also face bigger bills than it expects for restarting the currently idle plant and more than doubling its previous output of jet fuel. Keep reading →
Halliburton revealed a 23% rise in first-quarter earnings and topped Wall Street expectations, as demand for oil-rich shale formations kicked higher in the US, lifting its rig count in the region. The Houston-based oilfield services company reported net income of $627 million, or 68 cents a share, compared with a year earlier $511 million, or 56 cents. Excluding one-time items, the company earned 89 cents, ahead of average analyst estimates of 85 cents in a Thomson Reuters poll. Revenue for the three months ended March 31 was up 30% to $6.8 billion, up from $5.3 billion a year ago, matching the Street’s view. However, the company’s operating margin fell to 14.9% from 15.4%.
Tensions between China and other nations bordering the South China Sea are escalating, with the oil and gas resources that lie beneath those waters playing a central role. Keep reading →
Independent oil and gas firms are attempting to focus on the fundamentals following major allegations against one of the sector’s most colorful figures. The looming dispute over Chesapeake Energy’s chairman comes as companies already contend with a glut of natural gas production amid high prices for oil and liquids production warping traditional price dynamics.
US oil and gas company executives “talked turkey” with Wall Street analysts in New York last week at a high-level investor conference. Every spring, the industry’s exploration and production community convenes to discuss their business models and corporate strategies with the analysts who rate their company’s stock for investors. Keep reading →
Can Chesapeake Energy’s chief executive pull yet another rabbit out of his hat?
To plug what’s been estimated as a $9.2 billion gap between Chesapeake Energy’s Keep reading →
Financial regulators approved more rules Wednesday that they say will limit speculation in financial and commodities markets through derivative investments, to reduce the risk of another financial crisis and future taxpayer bailouts.
Among other things, the new rules determine which banks, Wall Street firms, hedge funds and energy companies will be designated swap dealers or “major swap participants” under the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial reform legislation. Keep reading →
Firms and traders found guilty of oil market manipulation could be fined a minimum of $10 million a day under a proposal announced yesterday by President Obama.
“At a time when instability in the Middle East is contributing to rising global oil prices that impact consumers at the pump, it is important to give American families confidence that illegal manipulation, fraud and market rigging are not contributing to gas price increases,” said a White House statement. Keep reading →
Shares of Royal Dutch Shell ticked lower on Thursday after the company said it spotted an “oil sheen” in the Gulf of Mexico.
The Netherlands-based oil and gas company notified the National Response Center of a light sheen in the central portion of the Gulf of Mexico between the Mars and Ursa production area. Keep reading →
