Sunday, August 31, 2025
While it’s outside my usual investing topics, I am hugely interested in the development of small modular nuclear reactors (SMRs). That we are rapidly moving toward the deployment of SMRs feels like science fiction. These small, 100% reliable and clean power plants have the potential to vastly improve the power grid and the lives of […]
Energy midstream stocks, including master limited partnerships (MLPs), have been an excellent option for investors seeking yield and dividend growth. With the second-quarter earnings season behind us, it’s a good time to see how the sector is doing with dividends. Alerian Energy, now part of VettaFi, publishes indexes that track energy midstream and infrastructure assets. […]
When I learned about the business operations of refining companies a decade ago, I became a fan of the sector and the long-term profit rewards that investors can earn from it. The energy sector is divided into three subsectors. Upstream energy companies drill for oil and gas. These companies receive a lot of attention because […]
There is a widespread belief that renewable energy sources are replacing traditional hydrocarbon energy sources. That is not the case. Here is the global crude oil demand for the last 20 years. Consumption has grown from 83.65 million barrels per day (mbpd) in 2005 to a forecast of 105.5 mbpd for 2025. The use of […]
Known for dividends and attractive yields, energy midstream stocks have been a hot stock sector for the last five years. For example, the Global X MLP & Energy Infrastructure ETF (MLPX) returned 239% over the last five years. The 2025 bear market (mid-February through early April) saw the midstream sector drop by 20%, similar to […]
Editor’s note: This issue was written ahead of the news that the Trump administration tariffs would be paused for 90 days for all countries except China. Crude oil prices have dropped 16% since April 1. Oil at $60 per barrel has significantly different implications compared to oil at $75. The commodity has fallen on the […]
Operations in the energy sector can be divided into three distinct subsectors: upstream, midstream, and downstream. Profits from two of them—upstream and downstream—vary significantly, with price changes for crude oil, natural gas, and refined fuels. The third sector, midstream, has stable revenue streams and makes a good choice for income-focused investors. Major energy companies like […]
The investing public has begun to realize that AI will require a massive buildout of data centers, and those centers will require vast amounts of energy to power their services and keep them cool. For example, a Chat-GPT query requires almost 10 times the power of a Google search. Energy midstream companies provide the gathering, […]
A recent article about a liquified natural gas (LNG) ship caught my attention and made me think about investments that take advantage of this one ship’s dilemma. Recently, Bloomberg reported that a sanctioned Russian LNG carrier ship almost circumnavigated the world looking for a buyer for the LNG on board. The ship was at sea […]
If you only read mainstream news, you probably think that crude oil consumption is falling and that fossil fuels will soon be replaced as an energy source by renewable sources and natural gas. That assumption is far from reality. Let’s start with global crude oil consumption. A decade ago, the planet consumed 83.65 million barrels […]
