Many Big Oil companies still have solid fundamentals.

One of the main rules for investing during volatile times is to look for companies with strong fundamentals. This is especially true for an investor like me who isn't overly active and who likes the less-sexy "buy and hold" strategy. The idea is to look for companies with strong underlying value, and then buy more shares when the stock is pulling back a bit. That way when the market (and the company) recovers, you make more money since you were able to buy more shares.

Russia has BP in its sights.

This week has been a tough one for BP (BP) in Russia. Earlier this week, BP's Russian venture TNK-BP, was raided by Russian security forces. Why? One of the TNK-BP employees is being accused of espionage (he is an alumni member of the British Council). And now an environmental inspection has been called, looking into BP's practices in the country. The New York Times reports on the latest troubled for BP in Russia:

British judge cancels order to freeze $12 billion in PdVSA assets.

When Exxon Mobil (XOM) won a judgment to freeze $12 billion in the assets of Petroleos Venezuela SA, it was considered a major victory for the Big Oil company. Now, however, XOM is experiencing a setback in its fight against the state-controlled oil company. A British judge has canceled the order to freeze PdVSA's assets.

Exxon Mobil (XOM) is not known for its environmental record. Indeed, many environmentally-friendly investors feel that Exxon could be doing much more in terms of alternative energy investment. And, interestingly, that is what XOM has been doing the past three decades. XOM just hasn't been doing it in an area where we usually think to look. The Wall Street Journal reports on Exxon's efforts to remain diversified as alternative energy comes to the fore:

But even as it hunts the earth for new supplies of oil and natural gas, Exxon has worked on developing alternative energy technology. The company, which has big plastic and chemical operations, isn't keen on the long-term prospects for biofuels, but it is bullish on the hybrid market.

Exxon isn't stupid. It's not the largest company in the world, in terms of value, for nothing. Exxon knows that, even as it spends money on oil and natural gas exploration, certain tides are changing. Exxon, instead of betting on biofuels, thinks that future is the hybrid car market. That's why Exxon has been working on better lithium batteries since the 1970s.

As oil prices rise, so does Exxon's budget.

Exxon Mobil (XOM), the world's most profitable oil company, has plans to grow and increase the amount of oil it is capable of pumping. Bloomberg reports on increased spending planned by Exxon:

With worries about oil supply from OPEC mounting, and with concerns over the increasing costs of oil exploration, some Big Oil companies are focusing their efforts on getting as much as they can out of existing oil fields. One example? BP (BP) and its efforts in Prudhoe Bay in Alaska. Prudhoe Bay is the most productive oil field in the United States, but BP has run into trouble with the oil field lately, with pipeline closures and leaks in the past couple of years.

The company, however, is optimistic that technology can help BP and its partners Exxon Mobil (XOM) and ConocoPhillips (COP) pump more oil of varying quality out of Prudhoe Bay. The International Herald Tribune reports on what these Big Oil companies are working on in order to increase the production of the Alaska oil field:

Are biofuels just as harmful as fossil fuels?

Right now, there is a bit of a conundrum in biofuel investing. Popular biofuels like ethanol that comes from corn are causing a great deal of trouble in terms of environmentally friendly investing. Why? Because recent studies are showing that producing biofuels can actually cause more harm to the environment than good. There are two main problems plaguing biofuel production right now on the level of environmental friendliness: land use, refining and production.

Exxon (XOM) fights Chavez and scores a victory.

Back in the summer of 2007, Venezuela seized complete control of the Orinoco Belt, believed to be one of the largest caches of heavy crude oil on earth. This move, by which Venezuela's state-owned oil company, Petroleos de Venezuela [PDVSA], gained control of the Belt, certainly upset some in the industry. Part of the reason is that Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez seized Big Oil assets as part of the move.

Despite lower profits, BP is seeing rise in stock price.

BP (BP) is often considered the least successful of Big Oil companies. It had the lowest profits of the major Big Oil companies last quarter. Indeed, with a $3 billion profit, it couldn't come close to Exxon (XOM) in terms of oil company profits. But despite this fact, BP was up Wednesday morning on the stock market while Exxon, Chevron (CVX) and ConocoPhillips (COP) are all dropping.

Friday morning Exxon Mobil (XOM) reported on its quarterly 2007 profits. While many oil companies moaned about rising oil prices, Exxon proved that $90 a barrel oil (and above) is not a bad thing for Big Oil profits. MarketWatch reports on the record profits for Exxon:

Exxon Mobil on Friday reported its most lucrative quarter ever, as profit neared the $12 billion mark on a slight rise in adjusted oil production, capping off a year of record crude-oil prices.

That's not to say that Exxon's profits couldn't have been higher. Exploration is becoming increasingly expensive for Big Oil (including Exxon, which spent 20 percent more in capital and exploration spending), as companies try to find untapped reserves of a dwindling resource.