Alamo

Natural Gas Stocks: The Ultimate Form of Stored Solar Energy

Solar is the future---or for the forseeable future of around 3.5 to 5 billion years going forward.

Natural gas represents the present and is the best alternative fossil fuel available. The 50 to 100 years of current proven reserves now discovered should allow us more than sufficient time to solve the problems associated with harnessing solar energy directly and economically.

It's just a matter of time. We need to use that "battery" now.

As Ralph Nader said quite presciently, "If Exxon owned the sun, you could bet that we'd have solar"!

Natural Gas: America's Energy Salvation

If you have any doubts whatsoever about our national vulnerability to continued reliance on a crude oil based economy flash back to 1973 and the Arab oil embargo. They curtailed crude exports for the US' backing the Israelis in the 1968 Arab/Israeli War. One day we were importing crude and the next day we were not. What a tremendous blow to the US economy. Our national mobility slowly ground to a halt and a national pre-occupation with where you could "fill up"--or at least get a few gallons of gasoline or diesel took pre-eminence almost immediately. Talk about an economic "hit". This truly was one. Finally, coincidental with the doubling of gasoline and diesel prices, the export limitations were lifted and the red and green flags used to signal fuel availability or worse--much worse---non-availability, were relegated to history.

That was a very painful episode and one that you couldn't imagine would not have spurred the nation to devise a plan to do whatever it required to make certain that it would never ever be repeated. We talked volumes but effectively did nothing. The Reagan Doctrine decreed that we spend billions building a military sufficient to "take" whatever oil we might need and use that threat to keep crude supplies flowing our way---an idiotic and utterly mindless approach that engenders world wide hatred, Islamic terrorism and "oil wars". There are monstrous costs for American tax payers in such a "plan" if you can call it such.

Now, almost 40 years later we are still strangled by the same dependency that we "enjoyed" at the time of that 1973 embargo despite the many warnings of the dire consequences it represented. The simple fact remains that "Big Oil" is not and has never been America's friend. They bought control of Congress and dictated through that body what our fuel "choices" will be and at what cost---they pull the strings and we dance. Now, at long last it appears that the natural gas industry is awakening to the fact that their worst enemy is in fact the Big Oil boys. The farther the gas industry gets from the crude oil people the better they will be. With the tremendous pressures generated by environmental activism the natural gas industry has much to gain from their much cleaner, domestic and superior product. Both coal and crude are vastly more polluting and less desirable than American natural gas.

While virtually no one believes that natural gas is the long term solution to the nation's energy dilemma, we must have mobility if our economy is to function and short term it represents far and away the best solution. Truly renewable energy sources are under development and it will take time before those energy sources have widespread application. As one commenter noted, the industry is "demand constrained" at present and that impediment can be remedied fairly quickly if the Congress acts in the interest of the American people (and not in the interest of the current American politician).

The Congress needs to pass legislation compelling the transition to a natural gas fueled transportation sector---and the President is waiting to sign it. The sooner the better

Betting on Natural Gas, Part II: Investing Ideas

Continuing our reliance on foreign national oil companies is absurd in view of the fact that we presently have proven reserves of natural gas to offset our "crude mania".

There appears to be overwhelming support in congress to transition this nation to one using compressed natural gas (CNG) in the national transportation sector although that body has been woefully slow to act. Quite possibly, at the end of the healthcare debate congress will get behind the CNG fueled transition issue.

Keeping the present 250 billion dollars currently being "exported" each year here in our economy has to be a powerful economic stimulous plan.

With 60 million homes in the US already served with natural gas and an increased availability of the home re-fueling units (Phill units) America could be driving on CNG relatively soon. Presently, those Phill compressors are too expensive to find widespread use, but I could see a situation where economy of manufacturing scale could make them more reasonably priced as well as more efficient. That potential 60 million market base should be a strong motivator.

Additional pertinent details on the positives of natural gas use in America can be found at :
America's New Natural Gas.com website

Chesapeake: When Gas Prices Will Recover

After carefully reading the CHK Conference call for Q3 '08, I came away satisfied that Chesapeake management has a handle on future developments whether or not, natural gas prices rise or fall. Considering that these comments were made in a highly uncertain economic climate Aubrey McClendon's team has hedged major percentages of 2009 and 2010 reserves at attractive prices. (75% in '09, 50% in'10)

Those hedges should be entirely sufficient to carry CHK profitably forward during the economic uncertainty going forward. Bottom line is the uncontrovertible fact that Aubrey McClendon has acquired very valuable undeveloped reserves and negotiated deals with companies that wanted a percentage of access to those properties. With the hefty cost involved in developing gas reserves I think it makes perfectly good business sense in sharing those costs while retaining half (or more) of the production when it does come on line.

The trick is "being firstest with the mostest", and when it comes to American unconventional natural gas reserves Chesapeake is at the top of their game. CHK and McClendon didn't become the top natural gas producer in the US by being stupid.