Archive for April, 2009

China To Lend $10B To Kazakhstan In Return For Oil Stake

Via Bloomberg, a report that China, the world’s second-biggest energy consumer, may agree next week on lending $10 billion to Kazakhstan in return for the right to take a stake in an oil producer in the Central Asian country.  As the article notes: “…China National Petroleum Corp. plans to buy a minority holding in AO […]

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Venezuela Seeks Japanese Support for PDVSA

Via Robert Amsterdam, an interesting look at Venezuela’s continuing efforts to reach out to global firms to help finance its oil sector.  As the article notes, the most recent initiative involved Japan: “…Hugo Chavez and Japan’s Prime Minister Taro Aso today agreed to cooperate on oil and gas developments in the Latin American nation, according […]

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Iran’s Mysteries

Via Gregor.us, an interesting examination of Iran’s recent announcements of new oil discoveries.  As the article notes: “…People are usually shocked to learn Iran imports 50% of its gasoline. This effectively destroys a good portion of their export earnings from oil. Obviously, therefore, it would make sense for Iran to expand its domestic refining capacity. […]

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Mongolia: Another Saudi Arabia?

According to Marc Faber, the publisher of the Gloom, Boom & Doom report, said Mongolia is “torn between two lovers – China and Russia,” and is a country with huge potential.  As he notes: “The country is incredibly resource rich, another Saudi Arabia, next to the largest population in the world”

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Kazakhstan’s ‘Multi-Vector’ Foreign Policy & Increased Economic Ties With Iran

Via The Foreign Policy Association, a report that Iran and Kazakhstan are working towards improved economic ties.  As the article notes: “…The Iranian and Kazakh presidents met Monday in the Kazakh capital of Astana and signed a series of mutually beneficial deals that will also pay dividends to other countries. President Nazarbayev said he supports […]

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Gazprom Gains Control and ENI Exhales With Relief

Via Stratfor (subscription required), analysis of Gazprom’s $4.2 billion acquisition of the 20 percent stake in Gazprom Neft held by Italian energy giant ENI.  As the article notes, the original purchase by ENI was never intended to result in a permanent stake in Gazprom Neft, but rather to help Gazprom fight off a challenge from […]

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WILDCATS AND BLACK SHEEP
Wildcats & Black Sheep is a personal interest blog dedicated to the identification and evaluation of maverick investment opportunities arising in frontier - and, what some may consider to be, “rogue” or “black sheep” - markets around the world.

Focusing primarily on The New Seven Sisters - the largely state owned petroleum companies from the emerging world that have become key players in the oil & gas industry as identified by Carola Hoyos, Chief Energy Correspondent for The Financial Times - but spanning other nascent opportunities around the globe that may hold potential in the years ahead, Wildcats & Black Sheep is a place for the adventurous to contemplate & evaluate the emerging markets of tomorrow.