Top Up And Coming Companies To Own For 2015

Top Up And Coming Companies To Own For 2015: Statoil ASA (STO)

Statoil ASA (Statoil), incorporated on September 18, 1972, is an integrated energy company primarily engaged in oil and gas exploration and production activities. As of December 31, 2011, the Company had business operations in 41 countries and territories. Effective from January 1, 2011, the Companys segments were Development and Production Norway; Development and Production International; Marketing, Processing and Renewable Energy; Fuel & Retail, Other. As of 31 December 2011, the Company had proved reserves of 2,276 million barrels (mmbbl) and 3,150 billion cubic meters (bcm) (equivalent to 17,681 trillion cubic feet (tcf)) of natural gas, corresponding to aggregate proved reserves of 5,426 mmboe. In December 2011, the Company acquired Brigham Exploration Company. On April 14, 2011, Statoil's formation of a joint venture and sale of 40% of the Peregrino field off the coast of Brazil to the Sinochem Group was closed. With effect from January 2011, Statoil formed a join t venture with PTTEP of Thailand in its oil sands business and, as part of that transaction, sold PTTEP a 40% interest in the leases in Alberta, Canada. Statoil retains 60% ownership and operatorship of the oil sands project. In June 2012, the Company divested its 54% interest in Statoil Fuel & Retail ASA to Alimentation Couche-Tard.

Development and Production Norway

Development and Production Norway (DPN) consists of the Companys field development and operational activities on the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS). Development and Production Norway is the operator of 44 developed fields on the NCS. Statoil's equity and entitlement production on the NCS was 1.316 mmboe per day in 2011, which was about 71% of Statoil's total production. Acting as operator, DPN is responsible for approximately 72% of all oil and gas production on the NCS. In 2011, its average daily production of oil and natural gas liquids (NGL) on the NCS was 693 mboe, w! hile its average daily gas production on the NCS was 99.1 mmcm (3.5 b! illion cubic feet (bcf)). The Company has an ownership interests in exploration acreage throughout the licensed parts of the NCS, both within and outside its production areas. It participates in 227 licenses on the NCS and is the operator for 171 of them. As of 31 December 2011, Statoil had a total of 1,369 mmbbl of proved oil reserves and 444 bcm (15.7 tcf) of proved natural gas reserves on the NCS. Total entitlement liquids and gas production in 2011 amounted to 1,316 mmboe per day.

Statoil's NCS portfolio consists of licenses in the North Sea, the Norwegian Sea and the Barents Sea. It has organized its production operations into four business clusters: Operations South, Operations North Sea West, Operations North Sea East and Operations North. The Operations South and Operations North Sea West and East clusters cover its licenses in the North Sea. Operations North covers the Companys licenses in the Norwegian Sea and in the Barents Sea, while partner-opera ted fields cover the entire NCS and are included internally in the Operations South business cluster. During 2011, it two Statoil-operated oil discoveries: the Aldous discovery (PL265) in the North Sea and the Skrugard discovery (PL532) in the Barents Sea. The Aldous Major South discovery in PL265 on the Utsira Height in the Sleipner area is situated 140 kilometers west of Stavanger and 35 kilometers south of the Grane field. The Skrugard discovery is located about 250 kilometers off the coast from the Melkoya LNG plant in Hammerfest.

As of December 31, 2011, the Companys fields under development included the Gudrun, Valemon, Visund South, Hyme, Stjerne, Vigdis North-East, Skuld, Vilje South, Skarv, and Marulk. In 2011, the Companys total entitlement oil and NGL production in Norway was 252 mmbbl, and gas production was 36.2 bcm (1,287 bcf). The main producing fields in the Operations South area are Statfjord, Snorre, Tordis, Vigdis, Sleipner and p! artner- ! operated fields. Operations North Sea East is a gas area tha! t also co! ntains quantities of oil. The area includes the Troll, Fram, Vega, Oseberg and Tune fields. The Companys producing fields in the Operations North area are Asgard, Mikkel, Yttergryta, Heidrun, Kristin, Tyrihans, Norne, Urd, Alve, Njord, Snohvit and Morvin.

Development and Production International

Development and Production International (DPI) is responsible for the development and production of oil and gas outside the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS). In 2011, the segment was engaged in production in 12 countries: Canada, the United States, Brazil, Venezuela, Angola, Nigeria, Iran, Algeria, Libya, Azerbaijan, Russia and the United Kingdom. In 2011, DPI produced 28.9% of Statoil's total equity production of oil and gas. Statoil has exploration licenses in North America (Gulf of Mexico, Canada and Alaska), South America and sub-Saharan Africa (Brazil, Cuba, Suriname, Venezuela, Angola, Mozambique and Tanzania), Middle East and North Africa (Libya a nd Iran) and Europe and Asia (the Faeroes, Greenland, the United Kingdom, Azerbaijan and Indonesia). The main sanctioned development projects in which DPI is involved are in the United States, Angola and Canada. The Brigham Exploration Company acquisition added production of approximately 21 mboe per day (as of December) to Statoil's production and gave access to 1,500 square kilometers (375,000 acres) in the Bakken and Three Forks formations in the Williston Basin.

The Company has exploration licenses in North America (Gulf of Mexico, Canada and Alaska), South America and sub-Saharan Africa (Brazil, Cuba, Suriname, Venezuela, Angola, Mozambique and Tanzania), Middle East and North Africa (Libya and Iran), and Europe and Asia (the Faroes, Greenland, the United Kingdom, Azerbaijan and Indonesia). It completed 16 wells in 2011. Five were announced as discoveries: the Mukuvo and Lira discoveries in Angola, the Gavea and Peregrino South discovery in B! razil and! the Logan discovery in Gulf of Mexico (GoM). Statoil acquired in! terests i! n six new licenses in Indonesia in 2011. Statoil has activities in the United States, with approximately 300 exploration leases in the GoM and 66 in Alaska. It is also an operator and partner in exploration licenses off the coast of Newfoundland in Canada. Statoil is operator and partner in exploration licenses off the coast of Newfoundland (11,138 square kilometers). It has exploration licenses in Brazil, Cuba, Suriname, Venezuela, Angola, Mozambique and Tanzania. The Company has licenses in Libya, Iran, Faroes, Greenland, the United Kingdom, Azerbaijan and Indonesia. In 2011, Statoil's petroleum production outside Norway amounted to an average of 334 mboe per day of entitlement production and 534 mboe per day of equity production.

The Company has activities in the United States Gulf of Mexico, the Appalachian region, south-west Texas, the Williston Basin, off the East Coast of Canada and in the oil sands of Alberta, Canada. It also has a representative office in Mexico City. Offshore, the Company has production interests in Hibernia and Terra Nova, and interests in two development projects. Its development and production activities in South America and sub-Saharan Africa comprise the Peregrino operatorship in Brazil, the Petrocedeno project in Venezuela, the Agbami offshore field in Nigeria and four Angolan offshore blocks. Statoil's development and production in the Middle East and North Africa in 2011, primarily encompassed Algeria, Libya, Egypt, Iran and Iraq. The Companys Development and Production in Europe and Asia primarily comprises Azerbaijan, Russia, United Kingdom and Ireland.

Marketing, Processing and Renewable Energy

Marketing, Processing and Renewable Energy (MPR) is responsible for the transportation, processing, manufacturing, marketing and trading of crude oil, natural gas, liquids and refined products, and for developing business opportunities in renewables. It r! uns two r! efineries, t wo gas processing plants, one methanol plant and three crude! oil term! inals. MPR is also responsible for marketing gas supplies originating from the Norwegian state's direct financial interest (SDFI). In total, it is responsible for marketing approximately 80% of all Norwegian gas exports. In 2011, Statoil sold 36.1 bcm (1.3 tcf) of natural gas from the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS) on its own behalf, in addition to approximately 33.5 bcm (1.2 tcf) of NCS gas on behalf of the Norwegian state. Statoil's total European gas sales, including third-party gas, amounted to 79.8 bcm (2.9 tcf) in 2011, of which 39.5 bcm (1.4 tcf) was gas sold on behalf of the Norwegian state. The Natural Gas business cluster is responsible for Statoil's marketing and trading of natural gas worldwide, for power and emissions trading and for overall gas supply planning. In 2011, the Company sold 36.1 bcm (1.3 tcf) of natural gas from the NCS on its own behalf, in addition to approximately 33.5 bcm (1.2 tcf) of NCS gas on behalf of the Norwegian state. Statoil's total European gas sales, including third-party gas, amounted to 79.8 bcm (2.9 tcf) in 2011, of which 39.5 bcm (1.4 tcf) was gas sold on behalf of the Norwegian state. In addition, it sold 5.5 bcm (0.2 tcf) of gas originating from its international positions, mainly in Azerbaijan and the United States, of which 2.7 bcm (0.1 tcf) was entitlement gas. As technical service provider (TSP), Statoil is responsible for the operation, maintenance and further development of the Karsto gas processing plant on behalf of the operator Gassco.

Statoil is the seller of crude oil, operating from sales offices in Stavanger, Oslo, London, Singapore, Stamford and Calgary and selling and trading crude oil, condensate, NGL and refined products. Statoil holds the lease for the South Riding Point crude oil terminal in the Bahamas, which includes, oil storage as well as loading and unloading facilities. It also operates the Mongstad terminal and has shared ow! nership w! ith Petoro. The Compan y is a majority owner (79%) and operator of the Mongstad ref! inery in ! Norway, which has a crude oil and condensate distillation capacity of 220,000 barrels per day. It is the sole owner and operator of the Kalundborg refinery in Denmark, which has a crude oil and condensate distillation capacity of 118,000 barrels per day. In addition, it has rights to 10% of production capacity at the Shell-operated refinery in Pernis in the Netherlands, which has a crude oil distillation capacity of 400,000 barrels per day. The Companys methanol operations consist of an 81.7% interest in the gas-based methanol plant at Tjeldbergodden, Norway, which has a design capacity of 0.95 million tons per year. It also operates the Oseberg Transportation System (36.2% interest), including the Sture crude oil terminal.

Technology, Projects and Drilling

Technology, Projects and Drilling (TPD) is responsible, as a global service provider to Statoil, for delivering projects and wells and for providing support through global expertise, standards and procurement. TPD is also responsible developing and implementing new technological solutions. Statoil's research and development portfolio is organized in seven programs covering the upstream building blocks. The research and development organization operates and develops laboratories and test facilities and has an academia program that addresses cooperation with universities and research institutes.

Global Strategy and Business Development

Global Strategy and Business Development (GSB) was established in 2011, with its main office in London. GSB sets the direction for Statoil and identifies, develops and delivers opportunities for global growth.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Dominic Chopping]

  Norwegian oil and gas major Statoil ASA (STO) said Thursday it has made a gas discovery in the Kramsno prospect in the Barents Sea! , but the! exploration program around the Johan Castberg field has so far not delivered expected oil volumes.

• [By Aaron Levitt]

  The second issue for CIE and Lontra is that there is a lack of infrastructure in Angola to even consider using gas from the field. Oil majors like ConocoPhillips (COP) and Norways Statoil (STO) are looking at building liquefied natural gas (LNG) transportation facilities in the nation. However, these projects could take years to develop. At the same time, getting the gas from Lontra to these facilities would take plenty of infrastructure muscle — something that doesnt exist yet. So, CIEs field could be dead in the water.

• [By Aimee Duffy]

  A fond farewell?
  Many companies have abandoned capital expenditure plans in other plays to put more money behind their Eagle Ford ventures. Reuters recently reported that Talisman Energy (NYSE: TLM  ) is considering selling its 74,000-acre stake in the play, potentially looking to raise a whopping $2 billion. Given the money that companies are willing to pour into the Eagle Ford, it just might find a buyer. Talisman's joint venture with Statoil (NYSE: STO  ) is targeting production of 30,000 barrels of oil equivalent by the end of this year, which would double last year's number.

• [By Vanina Egea]

  The faith of some countries and particular governments is tied to that of resource availability. Such argument has been used to explain Chavezs rhetoric, and undemocratic practices in the Middle East. It is true that oil and gas reserves do not fully explain either phenomena, but fossil fuels have granted in both occasion a special ingredient. Oil and gas reserves have also been the backbone of for development of many traditionally democratic countries, some of which found themselves in great trouble after World War II. One of those cases is Norway, where oil and gas discoveries have allowed for the continuation o! f a democ! ratic regime, where important social policies share the profits made by an unregulated market. Nonetheless, Statoil (STO) remains a majority state owned company with 67% of outstanding shares, and only 9.5% in the hands of private Norwegian investors. Attention is called upon the stock because the second largest guru holding shares in the firm has sold part of his investment after 3 years of strong cumulative behavior.

source from Top Penny Stocks For 2015:http://www.topstocksforum.com/top-up-and-coming-companies-to-own-for-2015.html