The debate over whether it would be good for the economy to allow expanding the export of natural gas�is both a hot topic and one which is very difficult to fully answer. While companies, including Chesapeake Energy (NYSE: CHK ) and Exxon-Mobil (NYSE: XOM ) , would certainly benefit from the export of natural gas, others, including Dow Chemical (NYSE: DOW ) and Alcoa (NYSE: AA ) , claim that they would be hurt by rising energy costs. These higher costs would be passed on to consumers and could actually hurt the economy.
In the video below, Fool.com contributor Doug Ehrman discusses the pros and cons of natural gas exporting and looks at the relative effects of the companies above and the economy as a whole.
As the debate over energy exports continues, one exciting investing opportunity has been slipping under Wall Street's radar for months. But it won't stay hidden much longer. Forward-thinking energy players like GE and Ford have already plowed sizable amounts of research capital into this little-known stock... because they know it holds the key to the explosive profit power of the coming "no choice" fuel revolution. Luckily, there's still time for you to get on board if you act quickly. All the details are inside an exclusive report from The Motley Fool. Click here for the full story!
Top 10 Building Product Stocks To Own For 2015: Agrium Inc.(AGU)
Agrium Inc., together with its subsidiaries, produces and markets agricultural nutrients, industrial products, and specialty products worldwide, as well as involves in the retail supply of agricultural products and services in North and South Americas. The company?s Retail segment markets crop nutrient products, including nitrogen, phosphate, potash, sulphur, and micronutrients; crop protection products, such as herbicides, fungicides, adjuvants, and insecticides; and seeds. This segment also offers agronomic services, as well as product application, soil and leaf tissue testing and analysis, and crop scouting services. This segment operates 1,192 outlets in the United States, Canada, Australia, Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay. The company?s Wholesale segment produces, markets, and distributes nitrogen, phosphate, potash, sulphate, and other crop nutrient products for agricultural and industrial customers. This segment also owns and operates facilities that upgrade ammonia t o other nitrogen products, such as urea, nitric acid, and ammonium nitrate, as well as provides Rainbow plant food products. Agrium?s Advanced Technologies segment produces and markets controlled-release crop nutrients and micronutrients for the agriculture, specialty agriculture, professional turf, horticulture, and consumer lawn and garden markets. The company was formerly known as Cominco Fertilizers Ltd. and changed its name to Agrium Inc. in 1995. Agrium Inc. was founded in 1931 and is headquartered in Calgary, Canada.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Tim Gallagher]
Mosaic (MOS), Agrium (AGU), Intrepid Potash (IPI) and CF Industries (CF) have been moving and trading hand-in-hand, with AGU, BHP and Rentech Nitrogen Partners LP (RNF) trading the best, losing the least and rebounding the most since July 30th. IPI has sold off a lot more in the post-news period, as would be expected from a smaller, less established company with mine projects still in development. BHP Billiton Ltd. (BHP) announced plans to proceed with its Jansen Mine Project in Saskatchewan, Canada, potentially tapping the largest and longest-lasting supply in the world known at this time. Scotiabank (BNS) recently commented on Jansen, stating that the added supply "could add the equivalent of 18%-20% of the potash market over recent years." Nearly all of the companies mentioned have had a pretty predictable mix of upgrades and downgrades. That's what makes a market.
Top 5 Chemical Stocks To Watch Right Now: Tronox Ltd (TROX)
Tronox Limited, incorporated on September 21, 2011, is engaged in production and marketing of titanium bearing mineral sands and titanium dioxide pigment (TiO2). The Company�� TiO2 products are critical components of everyday applications, such as coatings, plastics, paper and other applications. The Company�� mineral sands business consists primarily of two product streams: titanium feedstock and zircon. The Company operates in three segments: mineral sands, pigment and corporate and other. The corporate and other include its electrolytic manufacturing business. It has operations in North America, Europe, South Africa and the Asia-Pacific region. The Company operates three TiO2 facilities at the locations in Hamilton, Mississippi, Botlek, The Netherlands, and Kwinana, Western Australia, representing approximately 465,000 tons of annual TiO2 production capacity. In addition, it operates three separate mining operations: KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) Sands located in South Africa, Namakwa Sands located in South Africa and the Tiwest Joint Venture located in Western Australia, which has a combined annual production capacity of approximately 723,000 tons of titanium feedstock and approximately 265,000 tons of zircon. On June 15, 2012, the existing business of Tronox Incorporated was combined with the mineral sands business under Tronox Limited.
Mineral Sand segment
The Company's minerals segment includes the exploration, mining and beneficiation of mineral sands deposits. These operations produce titanium feedstock, including ilmenite, chloride slag, slag fines and rutile, as well as zircon, pig iron and activated charcoal. Titanium feedstock is used primarily to manufacture TiO2. Zircon is a mineral which is primarily used as an opacifier in ceramic glazes for tiles, plates, dishes and industrial products.
Pigment segment
The Company's pigment segment primarily produces and markets TiO2, and has production facilities in the United States, Australia, and the! Netherlands. TiO2 is used in a range of products due to its ability to impart whiteness, brightness and opacity. TiO2 is used in the manufacture of coatings, plastics and paper and in a range of other applications, including inks, fibers, rubber, food, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals. TiO2 is a critical component of everyday consumer applications due to its superior ability to cover or mask other materials effectively and efficiently relative to alternative white pigments and extenders.
Corporate and other
Corporate and other is comprised of corporate activities and businesses that are no longer in operation, as well as its electrolytic manufacturing and marketing operations, all of which are located in the United States. It�� electrolytic and other chemical products operations are focused on advanced battery materials, sodium chlorate and specialty boron products.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Robert Rapier]
The “drop” mentioned in this question referred to the correction in the prices of many domestic oil producer shares that I had warned was likely during our November web chat. But on Dec. 14, just two days after our latest chat, Anadarko Petroleum (NYSE: APC) suffered a far more worrisome drop. On that day a judge ruled that Anadarko is responsible for at least $5 billion and perhaps up to $14 billion of cleanup costs related to Tronox (NYSE: TROX), which was spun out of Kerr-McGee in 2005 and subsequently declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2009.
- [By Arie Goren]
Tronox Limited (TROX)
Tronox Limited produces and markets titanium ore and titanium dioxide in the Americas, Europe, and the Asia-Pacific.
- [By Neha Chamaria]
On the same day that DuPont declared its intentions, Tronox (NYSE: TROX ) , another big TiO2 producer, chipped in with a similar announcement to increase prices effective June 1. These two were among the only major TiO2 companies that were left to jump on the price-hike bandwagon. Others, like Huntsman (NYSE: HUN ) and Kronos Worldwide, already took the plunge some weeks back.
- [By James O'Toole]
In 2005 and 2006, the company transferred its valuable oil and gas exploration assets to a new corporate entity that was later acquired by Anadarko. The environmental liabilities were left with the old company, which was renamed Tronox (TROX).
Top 5 Chemical Stocks To Watch Right Now: PetroLogistics LP (PDH)
PetroLogistics LP owns and operates propane dehydrogenation (PDH) facility. The Company is located in the vicinity of the Houston Ship Channel. As of April 23, 2012, the Company had an annual production capacity of approximately 1.45 billion pounds of propylene. Its PDH facility uses a CATOFIN dehydrogenation technology pursuant to a fully-paid license from CB&I Lummus. It derives its sales from three different sources: propylene sales, hydrogen sales, and mixed stream of butane and butylenes (C4 mix stream) and heavier hydrocarbons (C5+ stream) sales.
Contracted Propylene Sales
The Company has propylene sales contracts with The Dow Chemical Company (Dow), Total Petrochemicals USA, Inc. (Total), and INEOS Olefins and Polymers USA (INEOS), each of which use the propylene it supplies in the acrylic acid, polypropylene and acrylonitrile plants. Effective January 1, 2012, it added BASF Corporation (BASF) and LyondellBasell Industries N.V. (LyondellBasell) as additional contracted customers. It delivers propylene to these customers through its integrated pipeline system, which connects its facility to the Dow and Total plants and the LyondellBasell system, and through interconnected third-party pipelines, which connect its facility to INEOS and BASF and to other potential propylene customers.
Spot-Market Propylene Sales
Through the Company�� integrated pipeline system, the Company accesses other consumers of propylene, which it is able to supply on a spot basis with its excess production capacity. It manages its contract and spot portfolio.
Hydrogen Gas Sales
As part of the PDH process, the Company produces commercial quantities of hydrogen. Hydrogen is consumed in refinery processes, including fuel desulphurization.
C4 Mix/C5+ Streams Sales
The Company produces commercial quantities of C4 mix/C5+ streams. It sells the C4 mix stream to specialty chemical consumers or refiners and these customers tran! sport the purchased volumes from its facility by truck. The C5+ stream, which is heavy in aromatics, is transported by its pipeline to a Kinder Morgan terminal, and then sold to Texas Aromatics for use in the chemical or gasoline markets.
The Company competes with Enterprise, Chevron Phillips, ExxonMobil Chemical, Shell Chemical, Flint Hills and the Williams Companies.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Travis Hoium]
What: Shares of propane company PetroLogistics (NYSE: PDH ) fell as much as 10% today after reporting earnings.
So what: Sales dropped 18% from a year ago to $159.4 million but the company swung to a net income of $41.4 million. On an adjusted basis net income fell from $64.4 million a year ago to $37.8 million in the second quarter. �
- [By Seth Jayson]
Calling all cash flows
When you are trying to buy the market's best stocks, it's worth checking up on your companies' free cash flow once a quarter or so, to see whether it bears any relationship to the net income in the headlines. That's what we do with this series. Today, we're checking in on PetroLogistics (NYSE: PDH ) , whose recent revenue and earnings are plotted below. - [By Seth Jayson]
PetroLogistics (NYSE: PDH ) reported earnings on July 24. Here are the numbers you need to know.
The 10-second takeaway
For the quarter ended June 30 (Q2), PetroLogistics met expectations on revenues and beat expectations on earnings per share.
Top 5 Chemical Stocks To Watch Right Now: Rentech Inc (RTK)
Rentech, Inc. (Rentech), incorporated in 1981, is a provider of clean energy solutions. The Company owns and operates a nitrogen fertilizer plant in East Dubuque, Illinois, that manufactures and sells natural gas-based nitrogen fertilizer products within the corn-belt region in the United States. It is developing energy projects to produce certified synthetic fuels and electric power from carbon-containing materials, such as biomass, waste and fossil resources. Its technologies can produce synthesis gas (syngas) from biomass and waste materials, and convert syngas from its own or other gasification technologies into complex hydrocarbons (the Rentech Process) that are then upgraded into fuels using refining technology that it licenses. In addition to developing projects using these technologies, it is pursuing the licensing of its technologies to developers of projects that are expected to produce fuels and/or power. In May 2011, it acquired majority interest in ClearFuels Technology Inc. In May 2013, Rentech Inc acquired the entire share capital of Fulghum Fibres Inc. In August 2013, Rentech Inc announced that a subsidiary of the Company closed the sale of approximately 450 acres in Natchez, Mississippi to Adams County, Mississippi.
The Rentech Process is a technology based on Fischer-Tropsch (FT) chemistry, which converts syngas that can be produced from a range of biomass, waste and fossil resources into hydrocarbons. These hydrocarbons can be processed and upgraded into synthetic fuels, such as military and commercial jet fuels and low sulfur diesel fuel, as well as waxes and chemicals. Unlike some other alternative transportation fuels, such as ethanol, fuels produced from the Rentech Process can be transported and used in existing infrastructure, including pipelines and engines without blending restrictions. Its technology portfolio also includes the Rentech-SilvaGas biomass gasification technology (the Rentech-SilvaGas Technology), which enables it to offer integrated technologies t! hat can convert biomass and wastes to syngas and into clean fuels and electric power.
The Rentech Process can produce synthetic diesel fuels (RenDiesel1 fuels), which are clean burning having lower emissions of regulated pollutants, such as nitrogen oxides, sulfur oxides and particulate matter, than traditional petroleum-based diesel fuels. The Rentech Process also can produce synthetic jet fuel (RenJet fuel), which when blended with conventional jet fuel meet jet fuel specifications for military jet fuel and commercial Jet A and Jet A-1 fuels. It is developing a proposed project near Natchez, Mississippi (the Natchez Project) designed to produce approximately 30,000 barrels per day of synthetic fuels and chemicals and approximately 120 megawatts of power. It is evaluating alternative configurations for the Natchez site, which would initially be smaller in scale. The alternate configurations may use various feed-stocks alone or in various combinations, and include proportions of waxes and chemicals as products.
The Company owns, through its wholly owned subsidiary, Rentech Energy Midwest Corporation (REMC), a nitrogen fertilizer manufacturing plant that uses natural gas as its feedstock to produce syngas and then nitrogen fertilizer products. The products, the Company can produce include renewable synthetic diesel and jet fuels, naphtha and power from biomass resources; synthetic diesel and jet fuels, naphtha and power from fossil or fossil and biomass resources, and paraffinic waxes, solvents and specialty chemicals.
The Company competes with ExxonMobil, the Royal Dutch/Shell group, Statoil, BP and Sasol.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Robert Rapier] While the MLP space is dominated by the oil and gas sector, in last week’s article we began to explore some of the more exotic master limited partnership offerings. This week we continue our exploration of nontraditional MLPs by looking at the partnerships supplying fertilizer.
Rentech (Nasdaq: RTK) has been around for more than a decade, and it has shifted strategies several times. Full disclosure: Rentech’s Chief Technology Officer Harold Wright is a former manager of mine when we were both at ConocoPhillips, and I have visited Rentech’s facility in Commerce City, Colorado.
For most of Rentech’s existence, the company has sought to commercialize alternative fuels. At one time it had ambitions to build a large coal-to-liquids (CTL) plant, but federal legislation ultimately nudged it instead into the biomass-to-liquids (BTL) space. The company did build a BTL demonstration plant, but ultimately shut it down and has now refocused its efforts on becoming “one of the largest wood processing companies in the world.”
During its interesting journey as a company, Rentech acquired two ammonia nitrogen fertilizer facilities, which turned out to be a profit center that funded the alternative energy research. In November 2011, Rentech spun off this fertilizer business into an MLP called Rentech Nitrogen Partners LP (NYSE: RNF).
In the months leading to the spin-off, RTK’s market capitalization was about $200 million. Rentech maintained 60 percent ownership of RNF, and three months after the spin-off RTK’s market cap had risen to $400 million, while investors had bid RNF up to $1 billion. Interestingly, RTK’s share of RNF was worth more than RTK’s entire market cap, a situation that persists. The market currently values Rentech at $482 million, while the valuation of Rentech Nitrogen Partners makes RTK’s 60 percent stake in RNF worth slightly more than $600 million — another illu - [By Travis Hoium]
What: Shares of fertilizer and renewable energy company Rentech (NASDAQ: RTK ) jumped 17% today after the company announced an acquisition.
- [By Rich Duprey]
Alternative energy specialist�Rentech� (NASDAQ: RTK ) �will be�buying back�up to $25 million worth of company stock through the rest of the year, the board of directors announced Monday.
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