But there are others who believe in the “Peak Oil” argument, the ultimate end-game, like a Suburban crushing a Subaru at the end of a long hill. Peak Oil enthusiasts will point to long lists of numbers, detailed maps of known reserves, past prognosticators of genius, and declare with tinfoil-hat fervor that “we are running out of oil.”

I’ve read these books and listened to the speeches. The idea that there is a finite amount of oil on the planet, and we are near the point where we will extract less in the next hundred years than we did in the past. Makes sense to me, as does the business cycle. I don’t know if the hundred-year history of the oil cycle is over. There is always a “this time it’s different” ideology at the peak. But then again, sometimes, it is different.

What we do know — what isn’t in dispute — is that oil is expensive, and that by all accounts the easy oil has already been found and is being extracted at a furious pace.

And this has led the industrial countries on a desperate search for this ever-scarcer commodity.

Russia, China, India, Brazil, Canada, Europe and the U.S. are fighting an anxious and diminishing struggle for the last of the world’s hydrocarbons. Russia is sending submarines to plant national flags at the bottom of the Arctic Ocean. China has moved aggressively to acquire oil holdings from Kazakhstan to Somalia. India has gotten in bed with the genocidal regime of the Sudan to the tune a $45 billion natural gas pipeline. The U.S. is spending trillions in treasury and thousands in lives to make sure the oil flows from the Middle East.

The Guardian of UK fame recently reported that “money is no object as the big players grab what is left of a diminishing resource.” (This was after China’s Sinopec paid $1 billion for the right to explore for oil in deep water off Angola.) Just a few years ago, such a deal would have sold for a mere $35 million. But competition is fierce over the last remaining frontiers where vast quantities of oil might be found.

If you add Latin American governments and Russia’s success at renationalized oil and gas assets, and the fact that many reserves in the Middle East are off-limits… you have a situation where the oil majors are going to the politically difficult and geographically inhospitable locations to find oil.

The oil game isn’t over by a long shot. One successful investment strategy is to find oil assets selling on the cheap and buy them before the big players show up.

I’ve discovered one such place off the cost of South America. For seven years a border dispute has stopped the drilling in what the United State Geological Survey (USGS) calls “the second-largest unexplored oil reserve in world.”

It’s a place we like to call the Gunboat Basin. It’s about 100 miles off South America’s coast. The USGS estimates that this oil basin contains 15 billion barrels of oil as well as 42 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. This location is one of the most sought-after oil regions on the planet. Not only is it a strategic replacement to Venezuela, but it is also brimming with precious crude. Only one problem: For the last seven years, the oil has been locked down and under armed guard!

But over the summer, the United Nations was able to hand down a ruling that averted a war and will benefit all parties. As I write this, seismic explorer vessels are on their way. Exxon Mobil and other large oil companies have formed partnerships.

There is a perfect way to play this which involves one small $3 company that owns the offshore rights. To protect my paying subscribers of Crisis Trader, I cannot reveal the name of this micro-cap explorer that trades on the Toronto Venture Exchange. However, it does show you how persistent research can turn up the kind of companies long overlooked by Wall Street — that can make investors a handsome return.

This $3 company is a Canada-based oil and gas explorer with an interest in 9.8 million acres (7.7 million net) offshore Guyana, South America, an area ranked second among the world’s under-explored basins. Exploration in the basin has been deferred by each of the offshore operators — Exxon and Repsol — as well as this $3 company which had been forced off its Eagle location by Surinamese gunboats in June 2000.

This tiny oil and gas exploration company has funded $8.9 million, the majority of Guyana’s legal expense, for resolution of the maritime border with Suriname by the International Tribunal on Law of the Sea. Oral hearings were first heard in December 2006 and a binding decision on the maritime border was established by the U.N. on September 20, 2007.

It has been agreed to by both Guyana and Suriname. Furthermore, it favors the holdings of this company that I had recommended to my readers. Guyana is preparing for renewed exploration by each of the operators following resolution.

This little-known $3 company has identified many significant oil targets off the coast of Guyana. One stratigraphic trap called Eagle at 13,500 feet has an estimated resource potential of 610 million barrels. Even more interesting is a deeper region (18,000 feet), which is called Eagle Deep.

To the west of that, this tiny exploration company has identified several targets similar to the Eagle plays. This is a region in which this company has partnered with Repsol. Repsol is also the operator and has found a number of other targets.

Repsol, Occidental and Noble plan to drill two wells at an estimated cost of $100 million offshore Suriname, just to the east of and on trend with this company’s Corentyne prospecting license for offshore Guyana.

To the west, this company’s Pomeroon prospecting license showed two discoveries greater than 6 trillion cubic feet have been made offshore of Venezuela.

The CEO of the company has recently stated, “During the last year, [the company] has received a number of unsolicited expressions of interest from international oil and gas companies regarding the possibility of participating in the exploration of the Corentyne PPL, pending the resolution of the maritime border between Guyana and Suriname.”

As you can understand, in dealing with small-cap energy explorers in places such as Guyana and Venezuela, this is certainly qualifies a speculative play. So it’s not for the faint of heart. But the upside can be lucrative, with the stock more than doubling to $7 based on my conservative projections.

To me, that means it is a buyout candidate and is waiting for an offer it cannot refuse. Until that happens, it will explore its holdings and make announcements as to what it establishes. Each of these will be a catalyst for share price appreciation.

In many ways, this company is classic emerging-market energy play.

It has very little revenue as of yet. It holds a great deal of rights to a large oil field. Some of its holdings have been licensed out to major oil firms. Add it all up and this company is extremely undervalued based on its holdings. It’s exactly the kind of undiscovered gem you hope to find when making an energy play in emerging markets.

– Christian DeHaemer

Source: A Speculative Buy on the Second-Largest, Unexplored Oil Reserve in the World

Crisis Trader consistently buys stocks before they are “discovered,” and as a result we make the largest gains. Last week we banked 221% in seven trading days. This week we are up 181% on another one. As you can see by the chart, our alternative energy company is only up 20%.

There’s still time to get in, but you’d better act fast. Join us today and I’ll give you my free report on the most undervalued North African energy play that sells directly to Europe…

Kind regards,

Christian DeHaemer

Editor, Crisis Trader

Blistering Gains in No Time Flat…Get In By May 31 and You Could Pocket $53,330

Over the last few years, tiny oil and gas companies have been an absolute breeding ground for making stock market millionaires.

Right now, a little-known $3 Canadian wildcatter is at the center of a global power struggle that could launch its share price into the stratosphere.

Thanks to an exclusive deal with the Algerian government, this tiny company could double by August 2008.

In the long run, you could make 37 times your money… maybe a whole lot more.

Source: Crisis Trader Is Always Ahead of the Game…

Gazprom is a $239 billion company in terms of market cap. And in one of its latest reports, it bragged that it would surpass Exxon Mobil in revenue by 2014.

About four years ago, I recommended that you buy Gazprom based on the fact that it had more natural gas than any company in the world. If you are still holding, you are up about 800%. Over the same period, Exxon Mobil is up 125%. You can see it as that little black squiggle on the chart…

With the energy boom in full swing and natural gas prices doubling, Gazprom will soon be the largest energy company in the world. I’ve found a $3 Canadian company that, due to a unique situation in North Africa, stands to make a bundle as Gazprom attempts to monopolize the natural gas industry in Europe. Read all about it here. Don’t wait. Things are happening fast.

Sincerely,
Christian DeHaemer

Editor, Crisis Trader

Source: Gazprom to Overtake Exxon Mobil

There’s just not enough of the clean-burning stuff to go around… and the big players who dominate the market, like Gazprom, are far too strong for the West’s liking. That reality can translate into strong profits for investors who know where to drill.

Warm Regards,

Justice Litle, Editorial Director, Taipan Publishing Group

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North America and Europe are becoming increasingly desperate in their search for new natural gas deposits. But their pain can be your gain…

Spring is traditionally the time of year when baseball gets into full swing, you start cussing at the lawn mower, and natural gas prices drop as heating demand eases and air conditioner demand is a month away.

But not this year. After two years of mild winters and low heating demand, natural gas has spiked during the traditional soft period. In fact, it’s more than doubled to an intraday high of $11.79.

Demand for Clean Energy

It’s ironic that the religion of global warming has taken root along side an emerging energy crisis. One feeds the other in a hippy spasm of Exxon greed and brown clouds over Mumbai.

The demand for clean energy means that most new power plants are fueled by natural gas instead of coal. And as Andrew Mickey so gracefully pointed out in this space a few days ago, natural gas is slowly becoming a fungible global market. That means that more gas is going to Europe and Japan, due to higher prices over there.

The end result is that North American inventories have been depleted, and prices are going up.

Market forces dictate that higher prices result in more supply, which is also happening. Formerly uneconomical supply sources, such as coal-bed methane and shale gas, are now becoming economically feasible.

U.S. natural gas supplies will likely go up by 3.6 billion cubic feet a day in 2008. This compares to a growth rate of 2.2 Bcf/d in 2007 and 1.2 Bcf/d in 2006. So far, the demand is sucking all this up and then some.

The good news is there’s a lag between the spot price chart and the stock price of natural gas producers. One small ($2.42) natural gas producer I recommended in Crisis Trader sells its product on the spot market. Which means it benefits greatly when the price goes up. It just reported a 160% gain in net income for the first quarter.

This validates the idea that the 2005 supply glut and subsequent market crash is now history. Times are good and getting better for natural gas producers, if not for customers.

Gazprom Turns the Screw

On Monday, the Russian giant, Gazprom, shut down a quarter of its gas supply to the Ukraine to force the country to pay off a $600 million debt. This was settled today, but underscores Europe’s worries over the reliability of natural gas coming from Russia.

The last time Gazprom played this game was two years ago, when the Ukraine went for three days without gas and pipelines in Europe saw a drop in pressure.

Europe gets 20% of its gas from Ukrainian pipelines. The Ukraine, in turn, gets its gas from Russia. It’s a system that leaves Europe beholden to Russia, much like the U.S. is beholden to OPEC.

As Lord Palmerston once said, “Nations have no permanent friends and permanent allies, only permanent interests.” This means that Europe is looking for other suppliers. North Africa fits the bill, and a pipeline is being built to Spain.

To my way of thinking, this smells like opportunity. And in fact, I’ve discovered one small player — soon to be big — that is sitting on vast, virgin natural gas deposits. I’m finishing up my report as we speak. I’ll have it to you in the next few days… Talk about perfect timing.

Christian DeHaemer, Editor, Crisis Trader

This equates to US$500 billion by the end of 2012. As you can see by the chart for Tata Steel, which is up 663% over the past five years, there are select companies that benefit from this type of government largesse.

But there is another company, a pure play, that will benefit directly from India’s rising GDP and its continued quest for a modern road, rail and power network. And due to a recent change in banking laws in conjunction with an acquisition, it has the catalyst needed for dramatic share price appreciation this summer. But you’d better act fast. Read my free report today.

Christian DeHaemer

Editor, Material Profits

This super-safe $15 stock is the “sleeping giant of India”. Most investors think they can’t own it, but they’re wrong!

While plenty of Americans know that China is a fast-growing economy, a small group of investors are making seven times more money investing in India.

And right now, you have a rare opportunity to slip through a “secret backdoor” and own shares of this $15 Indian company that I guarantee will post a triple-digit gain in the next 12 months… or your money back. Over the next five years, you could see 10 times that amount… maybe more!

Keep reading to learn more…