Energy Prospectus

Investors did not seem to notice that crude oil was up more than $2/bbl today. Most the energy stocks, including our Sweet 16 that are heavily weighted to oil, traded lower today. Based on the current NYMEX strip price of oil, these stocks are now trading at very low multiples.

The only thing that makes sense is that funds received a lot of redemption requests today, forcing them to sell.

The market could also be thinking that the fighting in Libya will stop soon and Libya's oil will be back on the market soon. I doubt that will happen. Libya was a screwed up place before the shooting started and now we have a bunch of gangs that are going to fighting among themselves for power. It will take months, if not years, to get things straightened out.

I put the final toughes on an updated company profile for Denbury Resources (DNR) today. It should be up on the website, under the Sweet 16 tab, by Wednesday.

NEW YORK (AP) -- It could be a year or more before Libya produces enough oil to start exporting it in large amounts again. But once the oil starts flowing, it should bring the price of gasoline down even further.

International oil prices fell Monday because of the prospect that those shipments will hit the market again.

The shipments stopped six months ago as the rebellion in Libya raged. The conflict damaged pipelines and fields and forced out foreign oil engineers who once helped the nation export 1.5 million barrels of oil every day.

Before the country can begin producing oil in large amounts again, security must be re-established, a new government must be formed, the United Nations must lift international sanctions, and damage to oil fields and pipelines must be repaired.