In one of the stealth oil developments this year, Cuban officials said last week that the Communist country is embarking on an aggressive exploratory drilling program to assess the potential offshore reserves.

Cuba has been relying on companies from China, Central America and the Middle-East for years now to pump crude from offshore rigs. This latest effort, 20 miles north of Havana, represents a new surge in drilling that could start as early as the second quarter in the Gulf of Mexico.

The biggest winner here for investors could be Repsol YSF. S.A. (NYSE: REP), the oil major based in Madrid, Spain. Repsol will lead a consortium of drillers that includes India’s state-run Oil & Natural Gas Co. and Norway’s StatoilHydro. Additional exploratory drilling in the region of the Gulf under Cuba’s economic control is anticipated in 2010 and 2011.

Repsol has been drilling in cooperation with Cuba for at least the past five years. While some skeptics believe that the estimated 20-billion barrels of recoverable oil could be too deep to justify production, Repsol has extensive experience in deep-water drilling.

If the news is good here, it could be the impetus that the stock needs to recover – putting investors in a position to pocket some gains.

Reposol currently trades on the NYSE at about $18, near the bottom of its 52-week range of $16.04 – $44.85.

The company has a market cap of $22.48 billion. Along with its subsidiaries, Reposol is involved in the exploration, development and transportation of oil, natural gas and liquefied natural gas. Its main markets include Spain, Argentina, Brazil, and Bolivia. As of December 31, 2007, it had 951,578 thousands of barrels of crude oil; and 8,156,157 millions of cubic feet of gas, as well as 6,514 service stations.

Repsol has made a significant new oil find in the deepwater area of the U.S waters of the Gulf of Mexico. Other recent discoveries include new gas discoveries in Peru and Algeria, and oil in the deep waters of Brazil’s massive Santos Basin.

Reposol could have been dragged down by low crude prices versus any fundamental flaws in its operation. A top-line look at Reposol’s numbers indicate an upward trend in revenues.

On November 13, 2008, the company posted net income of $3.63 billion in the first nine months of 2008, a 15% rise on the year-earlier period.

Repsol ‘s operating profit, a measure of the company’s ordinary business, reached $6.54 billion, a rise of 18.9% year-on-year.

Profits across its major business units rose in most of its major business units. For example, its LNG unit saw a rise of 20.5% during the period over the previous year.

At the same time, Repsol agreed to pay a gross dividend of $1.29 per share from 2007 earnings, a raise of 39% from the previous year.

With these results, Repsol could prove to be the sleeper oil play of 2009. Oil prices continue to bump along the bottom and worldwide consumption of fuel will probably stay flat. Still, it appears that Repsol has hit bottom and is the way to long, slow climb upwards.

 Three stocks just executed stocks splits in May — all of which should be part of your portfolio.

Petroleo Brasileiro (PBR: NYSE)

PBR engages in the exploration, development and production of oil, liquefied natural gas, and natural gas in Brazil. It’s quickly emerging as one of the world’s top oil and energy companies. Petrobras split 2- for- 1 on May 8.

Cleveland-Cliffs (CLF: NYSE)

CLF is a mining company that produces iron ore pellets and supplies metallurgical coal to the steelmaking industry in North America. So long as steel demand remains hot, shares of CLF will continue to rise. Cleveland-Cliffs split 2- for- 1 on May 16.

Union Pacific Corp. (UNP: NYSE)

With high gas prices crippling the trucking industry, Union Pacific’s 32,205 rail miles linking the Pacific and Gulf c oasts with the M idwestern and eastern United States offers a strong investment thesis. UNP shares split 2- for- 1 on May 29 .

Based on my experience with stock splits, all three will continue moving higher. I consider all three names strong buys at current levels.

Sincerely,

Bryan Bottarelli, Bottarelli Research

NEVER BEFORE REVEALED…

A Newspaper Reporter Making $15,000 Per Year Used These Secrets to Compile a $50 Million Net-Worth.

- Source: 60 Minutes

Next Week, You Could Make $35,000 in 10 Minutes.

Source: Three Bullish Plays 

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

_____________________________________

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

That’s exactly what’s happening. The global boom in liquefied natural gas (LNG) is just getting started. And the big boys in the energy industry are all cutting eight-figure checks to build the infrastructure. The U.S. Energy Information Administration went so far as to say, “[LNG] growth will require a $250 billion investment over the next 30 years.”

It’s already started. PriceWaterhouseCoopers says, “Given the number and scale of new LNG projects proposed or under construction, global production capacity could more than double by the end of the decade.”

There are bound to be quite a few investment opportunities with that kind of money being thrown around. As you can see in the chart above, Big Oil is on pace to become major LNG producers. But the largest player of all will be the world’s top natural gas company, Gazprom.

Russia’s de facto state-controlled natural gas company has long been eyeing its opportunity to increase its grip on the world through LNG. Now the major energy companies are falling in line to provide the opportunity the company/country (sometimes its tough to tell the difference) has been waiting for. Learn how Gazprom is going to do it, and how you can take advantage of the coming LNG boom.

Good investing,

Andrew Mickey

Editor in chief, BreakAway Investor

Exposed: The Truth Behind Putin’s Stealth Attack on America!

He’s got the world’s economy under his thumb, and his incredible power only continues to grow. Now Vladimir Putin is aiming to take down the U.S. economy and put Russia on top of the financial food chain. My exclusive on-location report from Russia is the only way you’ll learn how to protect yourself from his dangerous game — and bank gains of up to 493% this year fighting against it! His plans are already underway. The time to act is now. Read on for complete details…

Source: The $250 Billion Energy Bet

Since natural gas can now be liquefied and transported to the highest bidder around the world, booming demand in China, India and Southeast Asia is having a significant impact. Demand trends will stoke the natural gas flame for years to come.

As you can see from the chart above, liquefied natural gas (LNG) has been one of the fastest-growing energy markets in the United States. In 2001, 240 bcf (billion cubic feet) of LNG were imported. Six years later, in 2007, 240 bcf of LNG in just the first four months of the year.

But something changed last August. LNG imports were slashed. The decline in LNG imports coincided with a surge of more than 93% in natural gas prices here in North America.

You see, the U.S. isn’t dependent upon LNG imports for natural gas… but natural gas prices are highly dependent on LNG imports. In the past, LNG has always been there to fill that extra bit of demand that exceeds domestic production.

But when LNG isn’t available to fill that gap, prices soar.

It’s no wonder that Michael Stoppard, director of global LNG at Cambridge Energy Research Associates, claims LNG is “the next truly global energy business opportunity.” Learn how to capitalize on the global natural gas boom here.

Good investing,

Andrew Mickey

Editor in chief, BreakAway Investor

Exposed: The Truth Behind Putin’s Stealth Attack on America!

He’s got the world’s economy under his thumb, and his incredible power only continues to grow. Now Vladimir Putin is aiming to take down the U.S. economy and put Russia on top of the financial food chain. My exclusive on-location report from Russia is the only way you’ll learn how to protect yourself from his dangerous game — and bank gains of up to 493% this year fighting against it! His plans are already underway. The time to act is now.

Read on for complete details…