China Will Be Profit-Gusher for French Oil Company Total

This article was originally published by TheStreet on April 16, 2014.

By Sarfaraz A. Khan

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- China and its energy market are big factors in French oil major Total's (TOT_) long-term plans. 

The company recently has struggled with growth, but it could double its liquefied natural gas, or LNG, supply to China in the coming years as it targets a 30% increase in production by 2017.

Last year, Total's sales fell 2% to $251.73 billion while profits fell 18% to $11.21 billion. The company's hydrocarbon production remained flat, at 2.3 million barrels of oil equivalents per day. But Total has forecast daily production of 2.6 million barrels of oil equivalents by 2015 as it tries to satisfy China's ever increasing energy needs.

China's Oil Majors Could Move to Acquire This Australian Energy Giant

The European oil major Royal Dutch Shell (NYSE:RDS.A) has recently revealed that it plans to sell nearly $15 billion of its assets as the company requires an additional $55 billion in the next two years for investment in some of its major projects. Although Shell did not specifically mention the kind of assets it could be selling, but it’s an open secret that the oil giant’s $6.4 billion stake in Woodside Petroleum (WOPEY) could be up for grabs. Shell holds a 23% stake in Woodside Petroleum, which is Australia's second biggest oil and gas producer, as Shell’s management no longer feels that Woodside Petroleum is aligned with its long-term growth strategy.

Shell seems to have two options:

1. It can sell its stake back to Woodside, or other institutional investors.

2. it could sell this to Chinese oil majors, such as the offshore giant CNOOC (NYSE:CEO) or China Petroleum and Chemical Corp. (NYSE:SNP), popularly known as Sinopec .... read full article at GuruFocus

Apache Readjusts Its Portfolio; What About Its Exposure To Egypt?

By Sarfaraz A. Khan and Mehreen Tanveer

Apache Corporation (APA) is one of the leading oil and gas exploration and production companies of America. After divesting all non-energy related investments in 1988, Apache expanded its operations through acquisitions in America, Europe, Canada, Australia and Egypt. But now, Apache has been undergoing massive restructuring and is narrowing its focus on its home market. 

Image source: www.ApacheCorp.com

Apache has significant operations in Canada, Egypt, Australia and Argentina. However, in its previous quarter, Apache increased its production in the United States and reported production drops in all other markets (in terms of barrels of oil equivalent per day).

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After spending more than $16 billion on acquisitions since 2010 in the Gulf of Mexico (GoM), Permian basin, Canada and Egypt, Apache announced that it will sell $4 billion of its non-core assets by the end of the current year, nearly doubling its previous divestiture target. The company will use the proceeds to reduce its leverage, buyback 30 million shares, and fund its capital expenditure.

More recently, Apache is now planning to sell its Canadian assets through two separate transactions for $112 million. These assets are mainly dry gas properties in Saskatchewan, and Alberta, that include 4,000 operated and 1,300 non-operated wells with recent production of 38 million cubic feet per day and 750 barrels of oil and other liquids per day.

In July 2013, Apache agreed to sell Gulf of Mexico operations, which it acquired from Occidental Petroleum (OXY) in 1986, to Riverstone Holdings' Fieldwood Energy for ….. Read full article with images at Seeking Alpha