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Canadian oil play proves there is still much left in the ground

The energy sector has been an engaging story for the first half…
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The energy sector has been an engaging story for the first half of 2022, and as commodity prices rise, traders are hunting for stocks that can capitalize on this movement for the best share price.

Because of the impacts of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict overseas, Canada is uniquely positioned to foster energy security abroad. The dependence on Russian energy and natural resources could mean a recovery period lasting until 2028 – and a potential 20 more years before pre-war levels are achieved.

World Bank Governance Indicators and the Yale Environmental Performance Index rank Canada as the world leader among oil-producing countries on environmental, social and governance standards. This could make Canada an attractive and viable source of oil and gas imports.

There is a natural resource exploration and production company operating in Western Canada that investors should take note of, as it is primarily engaged on optimizing hydrocarbon recovery through environmentally safe and efficient reservoir development methods and production practices.

Prospera Energy Inc. (TSXV:PEI) is an oil and gas exploration and development company focused on conventional oil and gas reservoirs, with medium to heavy oil properties in Alberta and western Saskatchewan, acquired in 2018.

With an eye to reducing its operational expenditure while increasing its margin, Prospera’s new Chief Executive Officer, Samuel David came to the role during the COVID pandemic in late 2020. He recognized the considerable oil remaining in the ground, even though the properties were older and mature, very little had been recovered.

Having settled its historical liabilities to surface landowners and local municipalities and outstanding environmental and regulatory compliance, the team set to work.

Working capital was deployed to optimize production to the current 925 barrels of oil equivalent per day (750 barrels per day (bpd) plus 1,050 thousand cubic feet per day (Mcfd)), resulting in more than C$2,000,000 peak monthly revenue.

It was an incredible turnaround that put Prospera Energy on track to its growth phase.

In the past year, the team made significant progress in restructuring by settling historical liabilities and addressing all environmental and regulatory concerns. With a clean slate, the company is able to move towards increasing production from 750+ bpd to 1,500+ bpd by the end of the year.

Early in 2021, PEI was restructured to be compliant and profitable. Soon after, the team structured equity and convertible debenture private placement financing that raised $C9.1 million. The company also restructured its Board of Directors with diverse business and technical backgrounds and formed an experienced management team focused on technical delineation and financial discipline to optimize oil recovery in a safe and cost-effective manner.

Additionally, the company’s leadership team has acquired an interest in a light oil play with a development plan to increase production by 1,000+ light oil bpd.

This marks an opportunity for the company to expand its portfolio, diversify its product mix, and accelerate its growth even further.

Operations: Source: Prospera Energy Inc.

Prospera Energy’s core properties include the Cuthbert, Luseland, and Heart Hills heavy oil projects in Saskatchewan, as well as the Red Earth, Pouce Coupe, and Brooks light oil projects in Alberta.

The company has piloted horizontal laterals to assess to improve technical and economic efficiency to effectively capture the significant remaining reserves (400milion barrels of crude oil). This is a step towards its production output increasing from 750+ bpd to 1,500+ bpd.

With half a billion barrels of oil in place, roughly 8 per cent was recovered with old vertical well technology, leaving significant reserves, and added upside recovery between 20 per cent to 40 per cent. The company’s compatible technical applications are conducive to reservoir mechanisms allowing for the capitalization on the high margin potential of these fields. On top of this, the company aims to eliminate all emissions, minimize environmental disturbances, and conduct environmentally safe operations.

The team is led by reservoir development engineers who set out to develop property interfaces by addressing the risk systematically to then prove its potential value to spend further capital by doing work in phases.

As CEO David explained in an interview with Market Herald editorial, if phase one worked, they had assurance, so they could commit more capital to do a second phase.

“If phase two works, then you’re committing even more capital to do phase three, et cetera. So, the first thing we had to do was to become functional, that was phase one, functional meaning we couldn’t go to some of the sites because the landowner blocked it because they hadn’t been paid, they want money upfront. Even if you go do all of those, the equipment or the facility infrastructure is not in a compliant, safe operating mode.”

With his work cut out for him, CEO David put money forward, and the company raised enough to do the first phase.

“Phase one was to become compliant, operate in a safe mode and address all arrears. We made a number of trips to local communities and trade owners. We made presentations, and we told them, this is what we are going to do, but we can’t pay you all a hundred per cent right up front, but we also have to optimize the production, and there are a number of options. We gave some of them an option where we can settle on a cent, on a dollar, we can pay you a certain amount, 25 per cent or so, and then put you on a payment plan after six months so that we can get our production up.”It was a strategy that paid off.

2021 year-end reserves: Source: Prospera Energy Inc.

In spring 2022, Prospera Energy released the results of its year-end reserves independently assessed by InSite Petroleum Consultants Ltd.

Prospera Energy conducted a full geological delineation substantiated by existing 3-D interpretation, backed by the report, which confirmed to the company its assessment of the significant oil in place of 387.9Mbbl, mainly in core PEI assets (more than 170 sq. km.) located in Southwest and West-Central Saskatchewan.

While historical production accounted for 8.6 per cent recovery of 33.2Mbbl from vertical wells, significant remaining proven reserves of 3,880 Mbbl gross, 2,808 Mbbl net, and a reserve life index of 23 years.

These fields have had no modern drilling or recovery methods applied, meaning there is a substantial upside for the company and shareholders here, given encouraging historical production response and recovery from vertical wells along with significant remaining recoverable reserves and the re-entry to horizontal wells.

Highlights:

Total proved plus probable (TPP) reserves increased 569 per cent from 464Mbbl to 2,644MbblA corresponding increase in NPV@10 per cent before income taxes from a loss of -$3.4 million to a gain of $56.2 millionThe TPP reserve life index also lengthened from 10.1 to 22.8 yearsPEI elected to apply a modest price of $70/bbl for the estimation of NPV, allowing for substantial NPV appreciation if the oil price sustains Meet the team:

The company restructured its board of directors and brought together a team of people from diverse business and technical backgrounds to form an experienced management team.

Led by President and CEO Samuel David, P. Eng., BA Econ, with 34 years of experience in the development and management of oil and gas companies, management is committed to technical delineation and financial discipline, the goal is to optimize oil recovery in a safe and cost-effective manner.

VP Subsurface, George Magarian P.Geo., Honors BSc., has 36 years of experience in senior geologist and exploration manager positions.

Chief Financial Officer, Matthew Kenna CMA, CPA has been leading organizations to help them expand for 30 years. CEO David praised Kenna for helping turn the company around, noting that he believed in the plan.

The company’s VP Finance and Accounting, Chris Ludtke CPA, CMA comes to the team with two decades of oil and gas executive finance, economics, and accounting experience. He worked for Husky Energy before moving into an executive role in the junior oil and gas and hydrogen space.

Investment summary:

Prospera Energy Inc. has stabilized with the steady base revenue past the break-even point and brought all operations to operating safe operating conditions. The company is set up to start its growth phase, and the services that work with the company have grown.

This represents an opportunity to invest in an ESG-driven company, coupled with the benefits of investing in the oil and gas industry.

Through its modern oil and gas technology, the team can reduce its environmental footprint and produce valuable resources through modern and cost-effective horizontal drilling techniques to reduce the environmental footprint of numerous vertical wells.

With a mantra of “treating people as you would want to be treated”, CEO David added that good people run the company, who care for the environment as much as they care for people.

Prospera presents itself as a clean and safe energy producer with oil and gas operations in Western Canada. The company has worked to make significant progress in restructuring by settling historical liabilities and addressing all environmental and regulatory concerns.

Its properties are delineated, all areas of growth have been identified, and the reservoir has been defined. This company is set up for exponential growth.

FULL DISCLOSURE:  This is a paid article produced by The Market Herald.

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United Airlines adds new flights to faraway destinations

The airline said that it has been working hard to "find hidden gem destinations."

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Since countries started opening up after the pandemic in 2021 and 2022, airlines have been seeing demand soar not just for major global cities and popular routes but also for farther-away destinations.

Numerous reports, including a recent TripAdvisor survey of trending destinations, showed that there has been a rise in U.S. traveler interest in Asian countries such as Japan, South Korea and Vietnam as well as growing tourism traction in off-the-beaten-path European countries such as Slovenia, Estonia and Montenegro.

Related: 'No more flying for you': Travel agency sounds alarm over risk of 'carbon passports'

As a result, airlines have been looking at their networks to include more faraway destinations as well as smaller cities that are growing increasingly popular with tourists and may not be served by their competitors.

The Philippines has been popular among tourists in recent years.

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United brings back more routes, says it is committed to 'finding hidden gems'

This week, United Airlines  (UAL)  announced that it will be launching a new route from Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) to Morocco's Marrakesh. While it is only the country's fourth-largest city, Marrakesh is a particularly popular place for tourists to seek out the sights and experiences that many associate with the country — colorful souks, gardens with ornate architecture and mosques from the Moorish period.

More Travel:

"We have consistently been ahead of the curve in finding hidden gem destinations for our customers to explore and remain committed to providing the most unique slate of travel options for their adventures abroad," United's SVP of Global Network Planning Patrick Quayle, said in a press statement.

The new route will launch on Oct. 24 and take place three times a week on a Boeing 767-300ER  (BA)  plane that is equipped with 46 Polaris business class and 22 Premium Plus seats. The plane choice was a way to reach a luxury customer customer looking to start their holiday in Marrakesh in the plane.

Along with the new Morocco route, United is also launching a flight between Houston (IAH) and Colombia's Medellín on Oct. 27 as well as a route between Tokyo and Cebu in the Philippines on July 31 — the latter is known as a "fifth freedom" flight in which the airline flies to the larger hub from the mainland U.S. and then goes on to smaller Asian city popular with tourists after some travelers get off (and others get on) in Tokyo.

United's network expansion includes new 'fifth freedom' flight

In the fall of 2023, United became the first U.S. airline to fly to the Philippines with a new Manila-San Francisco flight. It has expanded its service to Asia from different U.S. cities earlier last year. Cebu has been on its radar amid growing tourist interest in the region known for marine parks, rainforests and Spanish-style architecture.

With the summer coming up, United also announced that it plans to run its current flights to Hong Kong, Seoul, and Portugal's Porto more frequently at different points of the week and reach four weekly flights between Los Angeles and Shanghai by August 29.

"This is your normal, exciting network planning team back in action," Quayle told travel website The Points Guy of the airline's plans for the new routes.

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Walmart launches clever answer to Target’s new membership program

The retail superstore is adding a new feature to its Walmart+ plan — and customers will be happy.

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It's just been a few days since Target  (TGT)  launched its new Target Circle 360 paid membership plan. 

The plan offers free and fast shipping on many products to customers, initially for $49 a year and then $99 after the initial promotional signup period. It promises to be a success, since many Target customers are loyal to the brand and will go out of their way to shop at one instead of at its two larger peers, Walmart and Amazon.

Related: Walmart makes a major price cut that will delight customers

And stop us if this sounds familiar: Target will rely on its more than 2,000 stores to act as fulfillment hubs. 

This model is a proven winner; Walmart also uses its more than 4,600 stores as fulfillment and shipping locations to get orders to customers as soon as possible.

Sometimes, this means shipping goods from the nearest warehouse. But if a desired product is in-store and closer to a customer, it reduces miles on the road and delivery time. It's a kind of logistical magic that makes any efficiency lover's (or retail nerd's) heart go pitter patter. 

Walmart rolls out answer to Target's new membership tier

Walmart has certainly had more time than Target to develop and work out the kinks in Walmart+. It first launched the paid membership in 2020 during the height of the pandemic, when many shoppers sheltered at home but still required many staples they might ordinarily pick up at a Walmart, like cleaning supplies, personal-care products, pantry goods and, of course, toilet paper. 

It also undercut Amazon  (AMZN)  Prime, which costs customers $139 a year for free and fast shipping (plus several other benefits including access to its streaming service, Amazon Prime Video). 

Walmart+ costs $98 a year, which also gets you free and speedy delivery, plus access to a Paramount+ streaming subscription, fuel savings, and more. 

An employee at a Merida, Mexico, Walmart. (Photo by Jeffrey Greenberg/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

Jeff Greenberg/Getty Images

If that's not enough to tempt you, however, Walmart+ just added a new benefit to its membership program, ostensibly to compete directly with something Target now has: ultrafast delivery. 

Target Circle 360 particularly attracts customers with free same-day delivery for select orders over $35 and as little as one-hour delivery on select items. Target executes this through its Shipt subsidiary.

We've seen this lightning-fast delivery speed only in snippets from Amazon, the king of delivery efficiency. Who better to take on Target, though, than Walmart, which is using a similar store-as-fulfillment-center model? 

"Walmart is stepping up to save our customers even more time with our latest delivery offering: Express On-Demand Early Morning Delivery," Walmart said in a statement, just a day after Target Circle 360 launched. "Starting at 6 a.m., earlier than ever before, customers can enjoy the convenience of On-Demand delivery."

Walmart  (WMT)  clearly sees consumers' desire for near-instant delivery, which obviously saves time and trips to the store. Rather than waiting a day for your order to show up, it might be on your doorstep when you wake up. 

Consumers also tend to spend more money when they shop online, and they remain stickier as paying annual members. So, to a growing number of retail giants, almost instant gratification like this seems like something worth striving for.

Related: Veteran fund manager picks favorite stocks for 2024

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President Biden Delivers The “Darkest, Most Un-American Speech Given By A President”

President Biden Delivers The "Darkest, Most Un-American Speech Given By A President"

Having successfully raged, ranted, lied, and yelled through…

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President Biden Delivers The "Darkest, Most Un-American Speech Given By A President"

Having successfully raged, ranted, lied, and yelled through the State of The Union, President Biden can go back to his crypt now.

Whatever 'they' gave Biden, every American man, woman, and the other should be allowed to take it - though it seems the cocktail brings out 'dark Brandon'?

Tl;dw: Biden's Speech tonight ...

  • Fund Ukraine.

  • Trump is threat to democracy and America itself.

  • Abortion is good.

  • American Economy is stronger than ever.

  • Inflation wasn't Biden's fault.

  • Illegals are Americans too.

  • Republicans are responsible for the border crisis.

  • Trump is bad.

  • Biden stands with trans-children.

  • J6 was the worst insurrection since the Civil War.

(h/t @TCDMS99)

Tucker Carlson's response sums it all up perfectly:

"that was possibly the darkest, most un-American speech given by an American president. It wasn't a speech, it was a rant..."

Carlson continued: "The true measure of a nation's greatness lies within its capacity to control borders, yet Bid refuses to do it."

"In a fair election, Joe Biden cannot win"

And concluded:

“There was not a meaningful word for the entire duration about the things that actually matter to people who live here.”

Victor Davis Hanson added some excellent color, but this was probably the best line on Biden:

"he doesn't care... he lives in an alternative reality."

*  *  *

Watch SOTU Live here...

*   *   *

Mises' Connor O'Keeffe, warns: "Be on the Lookout for These Lies in Biden's State of the Union Address." 

On Thursday evening, President Joe Biden is set to give his third State of the Union address. The political press has been buzzing with speculation over what the president will say. That speculation, however, is focused more on how Biden will perform, and which issues he will prioritize. Much of the speech is expected to be familiar.

The story Biden will tell about what he has done as president and where the country finds itself as a result will be the same dishonest story he's been telling since at least the summer.

He'll cite government statistics to say the economy is growing, unemployment is low, and inflation is down.

Something that has been frustrating Biden, his team, and his allies in the media is that the American people do not feel as economically well off as the official data says they are. Despite what the White House and establishment-friendly journalists say, the problem lies with the data, not the American people's ability to perceive their own well-being.

As I wrote back in January, the reason for the discrepancy is the lack of distinction made between private economic activity and government spending in the most frequently cited economic indicators. There is an important difference between the two:

  • Government, unlike any other entity in the economy, can simply take money and resources from others to spend on things and hire people. Whether or not the spending brings people value is irrelevant

  • It's the private sector that's responsible for producing goods and services that actually meet people's needs and wants. So, the private components of the economy have the most significant effect on people's economic well-being.

Recently, government spending and hiring has accounted for a larger than normal share of both economic activity and employment. This means the government is propping up these traditional measures, making the economy appear better than it actually is. Also, many of the jobs Biden and his allies take credit for creating will quickly go away once it becomes clear that consumers don't actually want whatever the government encouraged these companies to produce.

On top of all that, the administration is dealing with the consequences of their chosen inflation rhetoric.

Since its peak in the summer of 2022, the president's team has talked about inflation "coming back down," which can easily give the impression that it's prices that will eventually come back down.

But that's not what that phrase means. It would be more honest to say that price increases are slowing down.

Americans are finally waking up to the fact that the cost of living will not return to prepandemic levels, and they're not happy about it.

The president has made some clumsy attempts at damage control, such as a Super Bowl Sunday video attacking food companies for "shrinkflation"—selling smaller portions at the same price instead of simply raising prices.

In his speech Thursday, Biden is expected to play up his desire to crack down on the "corporate greed" he's blaming for high prices.

In the name of "bringing down costs for Americans," the administration wants to implement targeted price ceilings - something anyone who has taken even a single economics class could tell you does more harm than good. Biden would never place the blame for the dramatic price increases we've experienced during his term where it actually belongs—on all the government spending that he and President Donald Trump oversaw during the pandemic, funded by the creation of $6 trillion out of thin air - because that kind of spending is precisely what he hopes to kick back up in a second term.

If reelected, the president wants to "revive" parts of his so-called Build Back Better agenda, which he tried and failed to pass in his first year. That would bring a significant expansion of domestic spending. And Biden remains committed to the idea that Americans must be forced to continue funding the war in Ukraine. That's another topic Biden is expected to highlight in the State of the Union, likely accompanied by the lie that Ukraine spending is good for the American economy. It isn't.

It's not possible to predict all the ways President Biden will exaggerate, mislead, and outright lie in his speech on Thursday. But we can be sure of two things. The "state of the Union" is not as strong as Biden will say it is. And his policy ambitions risk making it much worse.

*  *  *

The American people will be tuning in on their smartphones, laptops, and televisions on Thursday evening to see if 'sloppy joe' 81-year-old President Joe Biden can coherently put together more than two sentences (even with a teleprompter) as he gives his third State of the Union in front of a divided Congress. 

President Biden will speak on various topics to convince voters why he shouldn't be sent to a retirement home.

According to CNN sources, here are some of the topics Biden will discuss tonight:

  • Economic issues: Biden and his team have been drafting a speech heavy on economic populism, aides said, with calls for higher taxes on corporations and the wealthy – an attempt to draw a sharp contrast with Republicans and their likely presidential nominee, Donald Trump.

  • Health care expenses: Biden will also push for lowering health care costs and discuss his efforts to go after drug manufacturers to lower the cost of prescription medications — all issues his advisers believe can help buoy what have been sagging economic approval ratings.

  • Israel's war with Hamas: Also looming large over Biden's primetime address is the ongoing Israel-Hamas war, which has consumed much of the president's time and attention over the past few months. The president's top national security advisers have been working around the clock to try to finalize a ceasefire-hostages release deal by Ramadan, the Muslim holy month that begins next week.

  • An argument for reelection: Aides view Thursday's speech as a critical opportunity for the president to tout his accomplishments in office and lay out his plans for another four years in the nation's top job. Even though viewership has declined over the years, the yearly speech reliably draws tens of millions of households.

Sources provided more color on Biden's SOTU address: 

The speech is expected to be heavy on economic populism. The president will talk about raising taxes on corporations and the wealthy. He'll highlight efforts to cut costs for the American people, including pushing Congress to help make prescription drugs more affordable.

Biden will talk about the need to preserve democracy and freedom, a cornerstone of his re-election bid. That includes protecting and bolstering reproductive rights, an issue Democrats believe will energize voters in November. Biden is also expected to promote his unity agenda, a key feature of each of his addresses to Congress while in office.

Biden is also expected to give remarks on border security while the invasion of illegals has become one of the most heated topics among American voters. A majority of voters are frustrated with radical progressives in the White House facilitating the illegal migrant invasion. 

It is probable that the president will attribute the failure of the Senate border bill to the Republicans, a claim many voters view as unfounded. This is because the White House has the option to issue an executive order to restore border security, yet opts not to do so

Maybe this is why? 

While Biden addresses the nation, the Biden administration will be armed with a social media team to pump propaganda to at least 100 million Americans. 

"The White House hosted about 70 creators, digital publishers, and influencers across three separate events" on Wednesday and Thursday, a White House official told CNN. 

Not a very capable social media team... 

The administration's move to ramp up social media operations comes as users on X are mostly free from government censorship with Elon Musk at the helm. This infuriates Democrats, who can no longer censor their political enemies on X. 

Meanwhile, Democratic lawmakers tell Axios that the president's SOTU performance will be critical as he tries to dispel voter concerns about his elderly age. The address reached as many as 27 million people in 2023. 

"We are all nervous," said one House Democrat, citing concerns about the president's "ability to speak without blowing things."

The SOTU address comes as Biden's polling data is in the dumps

BetOnline has created several money-making opportunities for gamblers tonight, such as betting on what word Biden mentions the most. 

As well as...

We will update you when Tucker Carlson's live feed of SOTU is published. 

Tyler Durden Fri, 03/08/2024 - 07:44

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