More Nonsense: "Our Government Has Not Agreed To Crude Oil Production Cuts" -- December 2, 2017

Investopedia  is usually pretty good explaining things so I was quite surprised by this:

Dow components Exxon Mobil Corporation and Chevron Corporation have underperformed throughout 2017 but could lift into market leadership in 2018, underpinned by a resilient crude oil market and strong U.S. economy, supercharged by tax cuts and deregulation.

However, buying these stocks too early could be hazardous to your bottom line because end-of-year tax selling may inhibit buying power until the calendar flips in January.

The WTI crude oil contract has lifted to a two-year high and could soon test resistance in the lower $60s.

Meanwhile, OPEC and Russia have just agreed to extend oil output curbs through the end of 2018, allowing U.S. energy companies to benefit from higher commodity prices as well as ramped-up production levels because our government has not agreed to similar cuts. Taken together, energy stocks at all capitalization levels could finally enter bull market advances. 

What the heck? "Our government has not agreed to similar cuts." What? What does "our government" have to do with setting quotas or mandates for crude oil production.

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Is The Worst Over?

When oil companies start increasing dividends one has to ask: is the worst over? There has been good dividend news from several oil sector companies this past week. Now, another good dividend story from Chevron.

Chevron Corp. may accelerate dividend growth over the next two years thanks to megaprojects that are already in the budget.

With earnings from massive Australian liquefied natural gas investments poised to swell cash flow, Chevron probably will have the bandwidth to lift payouts for 2018 and 2019 by more than a five-year annual growth rate of about 5 percent.

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More Nonsense

"Everyone" is worried about how to store "dirty CO2" and yet the issue of how to store nuclear waste seems a tad more concerning.

Today from The Bismarck Tribune--

A rare drilling rig is at work in central North Dakota this week, but crews aren’t looking for oil. They’re drilling two exploratory wells in the middle of coal country to help researchers determine the feasibility of storing carbon dioxide deep underground rather than emitting it into the atmosphere.

It’s part of a study nicknamed Project CarbonSAFE, led by the University of North Dakota’s Energy and Environmental Research Center and funded, in part, by the U.S. Department of Energy.

Researchers will investigate the geology more than a mile underground to determine if it is suitable for the storage of carbon dioxide captured from coal-based energy facilities.

I track this story here.  Washiington, Nevada, Illinois, North Carolina et al have huge radioactive waste problems. North Dakota? "Dirty CO2." Whatever.