That's a big drop. And Americans spend enough on gas that it means a real savings.
Americans consume about 367 million gallons of gasoline per day. So a $0.45 drop saves $165 million a day, or about $60 billion per year.
Sure, prices can (and will) rise again. A lot of the current drop is likely seasonal. But gas prices have been remarkably stable year to year lately. Check out the average weekly price since 2011, according to the Energy Information Agency:
��2011: $3.58
��2012: $3.68
��2013: $3.64
Keep in mind, average weekly earnings during were $650 in 2011 and $682 today, so real gas prices are close to 5% lower this year than they were two years ago. That adds up. The general rule of thumb is that every one-cent increase in gas prices takes $1 billion out of consumers' pockets. Three years of flat (or declining) gas prices is the equivalent of a small stimulus package.
Best Bank Companies For 2015: Green Technology Solutions Inc (GTSO)
Green Technology Solutions Inc (GTSO), incorporated on February 22, 1991, is in the business of identifying and acquiring rights in early stage, green technologies, with the plan to develop these technologies into marketable products. The Company has identified several technology endeavors.
As of December 31, 2011, the Company has identified the advancement of mining technologies, with an emphasis on rare earth and precious metals mining applications, the development of additional markets for existing paint products that are being marketed in the United States, and smart grid technology. GTSO has also identified additional joint venture in China and South America.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By CRWE]
Today, GTSO surged (+10.29%) up +0.0035 at $.0375 with�55,329 shares in play thus far (ref. google finance Delayed: 12:20PM EDT August 27, 2013).
Green Technology Solutions, Inc. is negotiating a potentially lucrative spot transaction with joint venture partner Chilerecicla to export a large quantity of e-waste to one of the largest smelters in the world.
According to the terms of the spot transaction, GTSO joint venture partner Chilerecicla will collect several metric tons of e-waste from suppliers based in Bolivia and Chile, and then ship materials to a smelter overseas. The buyers consist of the world�� largest smelter, who has meticulously screened Chilerecicla to become one of its suppliers. The smelter has noted that its capacity to purchase e-waste from Chilerecicla exceeds our partner�� current e-waste forecast for the near and present future.
- [By CRWE]
Today, GTSO surged (+13.33%) up +0.0040 at $.0340 with�43,370 shares in play thus far (ref. google finance Delayed: 12:18PM EDT September 20, 2013).
With heightened tensions in the Middle East expected to push oil prices to their highest levels in years, Green Technology Solutions, Inc. (OTCBB: GTSO) is aggressively looking into the more economical option of advanced biofuels.
A potential military strike by the United States against Syria is expected to elevate oil and gasoline prices to unprecedented heights. GTSO, an environmentally conscious company with an ongoing interest in delivering ��reen friendly��solutions to a global market, is exploring the option of comparatively inexpensive biofuels, assets that have the potential to figure prominently once again amidst current global chaos.
Hot Energy Stocks To Own Right Now: Compressco Partners LP (GSJK)
Compressco Partners, L.P. is a provider of wellhead compression-based production enhancement services (production enhancement services). The Company provides its services to a base of natural gas and oil exploration and production companies operating throughout many of the onshore producing regions of the United States, as well as in Canada and Mexico. Its production enhancement services primarily consist of wellhead compression, related liquids separation, gas metering, and vapor recovery services. It also provides ongoing well monitoring services, and, in Mexico, automated sand separation services in connection with its primary production enhancement services. It design and manufacture most of the compressor units it use to provide its production enhancement services. Compressco Partners GP, Inc. is the general partner of the Company. In January 2014, the Company announced that it has completed the acquisition of Compression assets for gas lift markets as part of its defined strategic growth objectives.
GasJack unit fleet
The Company�� GasJack unit allows it to perform compression, liquids separation and optional gas metering services all from one skid. The Company focuses on the natural gas wells in its operating regions that produce between 30,000 and 300, 000 cubic feet of natural gas per day (Mcf/d) and less than 50 barrels of water per day. The Company primarily utilize its natural gas powered GasJack compressors, or GasJack units, to provide wellhead compression services. Its GasJack units increase gas production by reducing surface pressure, which allows wellbore fluids that would normally block gas flow to produce up the well. The 46-horsepower GasJack unit is an integrated power/compressor unit equipped with an industrial 460-cubic inch, V-8 engine that uses natural gas from the well to power one bank of cylinders that, in turn, powers the other bank of cylinders, which provide compression. As of December 31, 2011, the Company had a fleet of 3,145 GasJack units.!
VJack unit fleet
The Company utilizes its electric VJack compressors, or VJack units, to provide its production enhancement services on wells located in larger, mature oil fields, such as the Permian Basin in West Texas and New Mexico, and in environmentally sensitive markets, such as California, when electric power is available at the production site. Its VJack unit is designed for vapor recovery applications (to capture natural gas vapors emitting from closed storage tanks after production and to reduce storage tank pressures) and backside pumping applications on oil wells (to reduce pressures caused by casing head gas in oil wells with pumping units). Based on GasJack unit technology, the VJack unit is capable of full wellbore stream production, and can handle up to 50 barrels per day of liquids on a standard skid package. As of December 31, 2011, it had a fleet of 50 VJack units. Its GasJack and VJack compressor units are mounted on steel skids.
ePumper system
Utilizing its ePumper system, SCADA satellite telemetry-based reporting system, it remotely monitor in real time, whether its services are being continuously provided at each well site. The ePumper system improves the response time of its field personnel.
Well Monitoring and Automated Sand Separation Services
The Company also provides ongoing well monitoring services and, in Mexico, automated sand separation services. Its well monitoring services consist of ongoing testing and evaluation of wells to determine how its wellhead compression services are optimizing the production from a well.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Jake L'Ecuyer]
Energy sector gained 0.85 percent in the US market today. Among the energy stocks, McDermott International (NYSE: MDR) was down more than 9.3 percent, while Compressco Partners LP (NASDAQ: GSJK) tumbled around 5.3 percent.
Hot Energy Stocks To Own Right Now: SandRidge Permian Trust (PER)
SandRidge Permian Trust (the Trust) is a trust formed by SandRidge Energy, Inc. (SandRidge) to own royalty interests in 509 developed oil and natural gas wells located in Andrews County, Texas (the Producing Wells), and 888 oil and natural gas development wells to be drilled (the Development Wells) within an Area of Mutual Interest (AMI). The AMI consists of the Grayburg/San Andres formation in the Permian Basin in Andrews County, Texas. As of December 31, 2010, SandRidge held approximately 16,700 gross acres (15,900 net acres) in the AMI.The Underlying Properties consist of the working interest owned by SandRidge in the Permian Basin in Andrews County, Texas arising under leases and farmout agreements related to properties from which the PDP Royalty Interest and the Development Royalty Interest will be conveyed.
The royalty interest in the Producing Wells (PDP Royalty Interest) entitles the trust to receive 80% of the proceeds from the sale of production of oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids attributable to SandRidge's net revenue interest in the Producing Wells. The royalty interest in the Development Wells the (Development Royalty Interest) entitles the trust to receive 70% of the proceeds from the sale of oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids production attributable to SandRidge's net revenue interest in the Development Wells. As of March 31, 2011, after giving effect to the conveyance of the PDP Royalty Interest and the Development Royalty Interest to the trus, the total reserves estimated to be attributable to the trust were 21.8 million barrels of oil equivalent (MMBoe). This amount includes 5.8 MMBoe attributable to the PDP Royalty Interest and 16.0 MMBoe attributable to the Development Royalty Interest. The reserves consist of 96% liquids (87% oil and 9% natural gas liquids) and 4% natural gas.
SandRidge is an independent oil and natural gas company concentrating on development and production activities related to the exploitation of its significant holdings! in West Texas and the Mid-Continent area of Oklahoma and Kansas. SandRidge operates all of the Producing Wells. SandRidge owns a majority working interest in substantially all of the locations, on which it focuses to drill the Development Wells, and focuses to operate such wells. SandRidge Exploration and Production, LLC (SandRidge E&P) is a wholly owned subsidiary of SandRidge.
The Underlying Properties are located in the greater Fuhrman-Mascho field area, a region in Andrews County, Texas that primarily produces oil from the Grayburg/San Andres formation within the Permian Basin. SandRidge operates three drilling rigs within the AMI and, as of March 31, 2011, had drilled 101 wells. Within the AMI, SandRidge operates 509 wells and has 888 proven undeveloped locations as of March 31, 2011. These 888 proven locations are a combination of 5-acre, 10-acre and 20-acre infill spacing locations. As of March 31, 2011, average daily production from the Underlying Properties was approximately 3,400 barrel of oil equivalent per day (Boe/d).
Permian Basin
The Permian Basin extends throughout southwest Texas and southeast New Mexico over an area approximately 250 miles wide and 300 miles long. It is an oil producing basin in the United States. As of December 31, 2010, SandRidge operated approximately 2,600 gross producing wells in the Permian Basin, with an average working interest of 94%. In March 2011, SandRidge's average daily net production in the Permian Basin was approximately 29,600 Boe/d. SandRidge was operating 16 rigs in the basin as of March 31, 2011. SandRidge drilled 484 wells in this area during the year ended December 31, 2010.
Fuhrman-Mascho Field
The Fuhrman-Mascho field is located near the center of the Central Basin Platform in the Permian Basin. The field produces from the Grayburg/San Andres formation from average depths of approximately 4,000 to 5,000 feet. The Fuhrman-Mascho field is a producing field in the Permian Basin and! it has p! roduced approximately 142 MMBoe as of December 31, 2010. During 2010, SandRidge operated eight drilling rigs in the area and has drilled 307 wells as of March 31, 2011.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Matt DiLallo]
The problem here is that SandRidge has been�dependent�on asset sales and its running out of assets to sell. In addition to the Permian sale, SandRidge has now taken three royalty trusts public. One consisting of Permian Basin assets, SandRidge Permian Trust (NYSE: PER ) and two consisting of Mississippian assets, SandRidge Mississippian Trust I (NYSE: SDT ) and SandRidge Mississippian Trust II (NYSE: SDR ) . While SandRidge still owns a portion of each trust, it likely will continue to sell off its ownership stake in each trust as well as other assets it still owns. At some point SandRidge will need to live within its oil and gas cash flows, otherwise, its not worth owning.�
Hot Energy Stocks To Own Right Now: Emerge Energy Services LP (EMES)
Emerge Energy Services LP, incorporated on April 27, 2012, owns, operates, acquires and develops a diversified portfolio of energy service assets. The Company operates in two segments: Sand segment, and Fuel Processing and Distribution segment. Sand segment consists of mining and processing frac sand, a component used in hydraulic fracturing of oil and natural gas wells. The Company�� frac sand facilities are located in New Auburn, Wisconsin, Barron County, Wisconsin and Kosse, Texas. Fuel Processing and Distribution segment consists of acquiring, processing and separating the transmix that results when multiple types of refined petroleum products are transported sequentially through a pipeline. The Company�� Fuel Processing and Distribution segment consists of its operations in the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area and Birmingham, Alabama.
Sand Segment
The Company�� Wisconsin sand reserves at its New Auburn and Barron facilities provide the Company access to a range of sand that meets or exceeds all API specifications and includes a concentration of 16/30, 20/40 and 30/50 mesh sands. The Company�� New Auburn dry plant facility has a rated production capacity of 4,200 tons per day, or roughly 40 rail cars, and has on-site rail car loading facilities capable of loading up to approximately 10,000 tons of frac sand into rail cars per day. The Company also has 4.5 miles of existing rail track that connects its facility to the Union Pacific rail line and provides the Company with shipping access to all of the shale basins in the United States and Canada with direct access to areas of oil production in Texas, Oklahoma, Colorado and the western United States. The Company�� Barron facility consists of a sand mine and a wet plant on land. This facility has a rated production capacity of 8,800 tons per day, or roughly 80 rail cars, and has on-site rail car loading facilities capable of loading up to approximately 10,000 tons of frac sand into rail cars per day. The Company ! also mine frac sand at its facility in Kosse, Texas that is processed into a high-quality, 100 mesh frac sand, generally used in dry gas drilling applications.
Fuel Processing and Distribution Segment
The transmix industry consists of businesses that process and separate transportation mixture, which is the liquid interface, or fuel mixture, that forms when multiple types of petroleum products are transported sequentially through a pipeline. Pipeline operators send large batches of different fuel products (such as gasoline, diesel and jet fuel) through the same pipeline, in sequence, to receiving terminals. The Company�� Fuel Processing and Distribution segment consists of its facilities in the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area and in Birmingham, Alabama, which are operated by Direct Fuels and AEC, respectively.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Kyle Woodley]
That won�� always be the case. I think Jon Markman and Best Stocks leader Emerge Energy Services LP (EMES) will be smelling Tesla�� nonexistent fumes when the ball drops to bring in 2015.
- [By Robert Rapier]
The top performing MLP of the first half was�Emerge Energy Services (NYSE: EMES), a supplier of sand used in hydraulic fracking (+146 percent). The second leading gainer with a gain of 110 percent was�Phillips 66 Partners�(NYSE: PSXP), which IPO�� a year ago and consists of midstream assets dropped down from its sponsor,�Phillips 66�(NYSE: PSX).
- [By Aimee Duffy]
Fortune recently addressed this topic, profiling Emerge Energy Services (NYSE: EMES ) and its 2012 tax rate, which was 0.5%. Again, the partnership structure forces the company to pass the majority of its cash -- and its tax burden -- onto the limited partners. According to Fortune, Emerge Energy Services paid Uncle Sam absolutely nothing last year. Emerge took its show public this May and has yet to officially announce a distribution, but you can bet investors will see more cash than the federal government did.
Hot Energy Stocks To Own Right Now: Transportadora de Gas del Sur SA (TGS)
Transportadora de Gas del Sur S.A. (TGS) is engaged in the transportation of natural gas and production and commercialization of natural gas liquids (NGL). TGS�� pipeline system connects major gas fields in southern and western Argentina with gas distributors and industries in those areas and in the greater Buenos Aires area. The Company also renders midstream services, which consist of gas treatment, removal of impurities from the natural gas stream, gas compression, wellhead gas gathering and pipeline construction, operation, and maintenance services. The Company operates in three segments: natural gas transportation services through its pipeline system; NGL production and commercialization, and other services, which include midstream and telecommunication services.
During the year ended December 31, 2009, the Company�� gas transportation represented approximately 42% of total net revenues. During 2009, its NGL production and commercialization segment accounted for 50% of the total revenues of the Company. During 2009, its other services segment accounted for 8% of total revenues of the Company. Its other services segment consists of midstream and telecommunications services. Through midstream services, TGS provides integral solutions related to natural gas from wellhead up to the transportation systems. The services consists of gas gathering, compression and treatment, as well as construction, operation and maintenance of pipelines, which are generally rendered to natural gas and oil producers at wellhead. The customers��portfolio also includes distribution companies, industrial users, power plants and refineries.
During 2009, the Company provided a range of technical services to different customers. The services consisted of connections to the transportation system, engineering inspections, project management and professional technical counseling. Telecommunication services are provided through Telcosur S.A. (Telcosur), who renders services both as an independent c! arrier of carriers and to corporate clients within its area. Telcosur has a digital land radio connection system.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Sofia Horta e Costa]
Telecom Italia SpA (TIT) lost 1.8 percent as Standard & Poor�� said it may downgrade the phone company�� debt to non-investment grade. TGS Nopec Geophysical Co. (TGS) tumbled the most in two years after reducing its revenue forecast. Celesio AG jumped to a three-year high on a report that McKesson Corp. may buy the German drug distributor.
- [By Corinne Gretler]
TGS (TGS) slumped 7.4 percent to 176.90 kroner as Norway�� largest surveyor of underwater oil-and-gas fields lowered its forecast for full-year revenue to $920 million to $1 billion because of lower-than-expected demand from industry. It had projected sales of $970 million to $1.05 billion.
- [By Dividend]
Transportadora de Gas Del Sur S.A. (TGS) has a market capitalization of $308.26 million. The company employs 829 people, generates revenue of $466.44 million and has a net income of $43.33 million. Transportadora de Gas Del Sur�� earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) amounts to $170.33 million. The EBITDA margin is 36.52 percent (the operating margin is 27.41 percent and the net profit margin 9.29 percent).
Hot Energy Stocks To Own Right Now: Hi Crush Partners LP (HCLP)
Hi Crush Partners LP, formerly Hi-Crush Partners LP, is a domestic producer of monocrystalline sand, a specialized mineral that is used as a proppant to enhance the recovery rates of hydrocarbons from oil and natural gas wells. The Company reserves consist of Northern White sand, a resource existing in Wisconsin and limited portions of the upper Midwest region of the United States. It owns, operates and develops sand reserves and related excavation and processing facilities and will seek to acquire or develop additional facilities. The Company's 561-acre facility with integrated rail infrastructure, located near Wyeville, Wisconsin, enables it to process and deliver approximately 1,600,000 tons of frac sand per year. In June 2013, Hi Crush Partners LP announced the completion of its acquisition of D&I Silica, LLC (D&I).
The Company�� frac sand production is sold to investment grade-rated pressure pumping service providers under long-term, contracts that require its customers to pay a specified price for a specified volume of frac sand each month. The Company owns and operates the Wyeville facility, which is located in Monroe County, Wisconsin and, as of December 31, 2011, contained 48.4 million tons of proven recoverable sand reserves of mesh sizes it has contracted to sell. From the Wyeville in-service date to March 31, 2012, it had processed and sold 555,250 tons of frac sand.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Robert Rapier]
Rounding out the top five were�Hi-Crush Partners�(NYSE: HCLP), another supplier of fracking sand (+71 percent),�EQT Midstream Partners�(NYSE: EQM), a midstream provider in the Appalachian Basin (+66.5 percent), and�Valero Energy Partners�(NYSE:VLP) (+61.5 percent), which consists of midstream assets dropped down from the refiner�Valero Energy�(NYSE:VLO).
- [By Dan Burrows]
It sounds like a soft-drink company, but Hi-Crush Partners (HCLP) is racking up profits through the revolution in oil extraction.
This tiny company with a market cap of just $917 million makes the sand used in fracking — and as anyone in an oil-boom state like North Dakota can tell you, business is good.
Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images By Kayla Tausche and Amara Omeokwe Twitter executives have spent weeks on Wall Street and in major U.S. cities touting the company's highly anticipated initial public offering, set to take place this week. But despite their best efforts to pitch the site's profit prospects in mobile, international growth and TV integration, investors are still skeptical, results from a new AP-CNBC poll show. According to the poll, nearly half of active investors -- those who had adjusted their holdings within the last year -- say Twitter would not be a good investment. That sentiment is stronger from higher-income respondents; some 56 percent of those with incomes of $75,000 a year have doubts about its investment prospects. While the survey's respondents remain anonymous, some potential investors have taken to Twitter -- ironically -- to talk about its investment prospects. "I will wait and see how the price action looks for awhile before I jump in," said Jason Whitman, a Wyoming-based optometrist who considers himself a "risk-tolerant" investor, in a Tweet. "I will not be investing until I see how $TWTR will make a profit," tweeted Matthew Sigafus, a 35 year-old nurse practitioner from Philadelphia who invests on the side. Conventional wisdom would say Twitter's most frequent users -- which, according to an August 2013 study at Pew Research Center, are adults aged 18-29 -- would have the most faith in its future. The AP-CNBC study showed that to be only partly true. More than half of Americans under age 35 do think Twitter will be a success in five years, but they're not sold on investing. Fifty-two percent of respondents 18-34 said they wouldn't put their money in it. Millennials seem to be wary of buying stocks in general. In a Wells Fargo (WFC) survey of 1,500 adults aged 22 to 32, more than half said they were "not very" or "not at all" confident in the stock market as a place to invest their money. A similar survey by Accenture (ACN) in February found 43 percent of millennial respondents considered themselves "conservative" investors. Even so, the results come amid intense focus on Twitter's nascent business model, and just days before the 7-year-old microblogging company is expected to raise more than $1 billion in its debut on the New York Stock Exchange. Analysts and investors alike have zeroed in on Twitter's user growth and engagement, key metrics for a not-yet-profitable company whose entire pitch is based on potential future earnings. Regulatory filings show the number of monthly active users on the site is still growing -- up 39 percent in the third quarter from the prior year -- albeit at a slower rate. And advertising on Twitter -- which represents 89 percent of the company's revenue as of September -- still relies upon users interacting with promoted content. But more than half of Twitter users, the poll shows, don't engage on Twitter, they just read, or "lurk." "We view Twitter's advertising solutions as somewhat unproven," wrote Scott Kessler, an analyst at S&P Capital, in a recent research report, where he also cautioned the company could harm the user experience by flooding its site with promotions. Potential investors appear still skeptical on the sustainability of the broader social media industry, where many companies with scant earnings continue to fetch strikingly high valuations. If Twitter prices its IPO at the high end of its current range, the company would be valued around $11 billion. Only 35 percent of the poll's respondents said that it is "extremely likely" that Twitter will be successful in the next five years. The sentiment is similar for other relatively early-stage social media platforms like Pinterest and Instagram, with less than half of Americans seeing success for those companies by 2018. Still, an October fundraising round reported by AllThingsD valued Pinterest at $3.8 billion, and Instagram inked a $1 billion deal to sell itself to Facebook (FB) in 2012. Forthcoming fundraising for Snapchat, a popular service that allows users to send messages that self-destruct, reportedly values the company at up to $4 billion. None of the companies mentioned has been profitable. Beyond being skeptical of its viability as a public company, respondents also don't view Twitter itself as favorably as its competitors. The survey shows just 19 percent of respondents with a favorable impression, compared to 47 percent with a favorable impression of Facebook. (And more investors had faith in Facebook as a public company, too: 54 percent of active investors say it will be successful in five years. And 54 percent of respondents at its 2012 IPO said it would be a good investment. The stock is up more than 30 percent since then.) While a survey of public sentiment provides an important gauge ahead of an IPO, it's not always correct in its prediction. For instance, only 18 percent of respondents said LinkedIn (LNKD) would be successful; the company has continually increased its profits and its user base -- and its stock is up 136 percent since the 2011 IPO. LinkedIn has since scored higher marks of confidence from both active investors and higher-income respondents. Other companies, like Google (GOOG) and Amazon (AMZN), stumbled initially as a public company but have soared since. Jonas Quinn believes that will be the case. "#TwitterIPO brings back memories of the #GoogleIPO. I had an allocation then, I want one now too," Quinn tweeted.
