Oil supplies and the USO

10Apr06

The launch of the oil ETF today has brought out a wide range of items on the energy complex. We posted earlier on the concept of "natural hedges" and how one can use a portfolio to offset the risk of higher energy costs.

Greg Newton at Naked Shorts does the math on how much of the oil ETF one would need to hedge one's energy costs. Not to spoil it, but the number of shares is quite small. Definitely worth a look.

Random Roger takes a wait and see approach to the oil ETF. He thinks oil company stocks may be a better bet at this point in the cycle.

The high interest in the oil ETF is driven in part by the belief that oil prices, and subsequently gasoline prices, are headed higher. This is due in part to continuing supply constraints around the world.

Daniel Gross highlights the fact that fallout from Katrina continues to wreak havoc on Gulf oil production.

Chip Cummins in the Wall Street Journal reports that various groups around the world are exploiting tight energy supplies to their own (nefarious) purposes.

That dynamic is giving new power to rebels, terrorists and ornery governments. Al Qaeda is targeting oil facilities in Saudi Arabia, the world's No. 1 exporter. A foiled terrorist attack there helped send prices up more than $2 a barrel in February. Some Iranian officials have threatened to block the flow of oil from the Persian Gulf if the United Nations imposes sanctions over Tehran's suspected nuclear-weapons program. Now even Mr. Gbomo's small group, armed with little more than machine guns and an email account, has realized that it, too, can use oil as a weapon on the global stage.

Larry Rohter in the New York Times reports on Brazil's success at reducing their oil dependency by focusing on sugar-derived ethanol. The program seems to be a success, although some environmental issues remain.

Although the energy complex is not our forte, we have been posting a great deal on the topic. The posts can be found here.