Filling a financial information void

Don Stowers
Editor
Oil & Gas Financial Journal

Welcome to Issue No. 4 of Oil & Gas Financial Journal. This magazine sprang to life just nine months ago as a quarterly publication, and already we are preparing to go monthly with it in 2005. After a brief hiatus in January, we will publish a combined February/March issue and then print a total of 10 issues in the coming year.

We at PennWell are appreciative and proud of the attention OGFJ has received in the short time since its inception and of the support we have received from readers and advertisers. In the past month alone, more than 1,000 people who weren't on our original circulation list have written asking to subscribe.

To us, this reinforces our original contention that the petroleum industry needs a publication that thoroughly covers the entire financial side of the energy sector from portfolio optimization to risk management and from project financing to accounting issues, such as Sarbanes-Oxley compliance. During the coming year, you will see in-depth articles covering these topics and more in these pages.

As a new publication, much of what we have already accomplished could not have been done without the goodwill of the industry and the invaluable resources of Oil & Gas Journal, our 102-year-old sister publication. OGJ editor Bob Tippee and his staff wrote and edited the first three issues of OGFJ and will continue to contribute and play a major role in putting together each issue.

Here are some of the stories you will find in this issue:

We profile Newfield Exploration Company and its management team, led by David Trice, chairman, CEO, and president. Learn how Newfield has boosted its stock value by nearly 670 percent over the past decade;

Read an explanation of the highly secretive and largely unregulated world of hedge funds. Gary Vasey of UtiliPoint and Peter Fusaro of Global Change Associates discuss the impact the funds are having on energy prices and energy trading, and Hadrian Partners of New York offers a primer on hedge funds and petroleum markets;

OGJ senior staff writer Paula Dittrick reports on credit quality and credit rating upgrades, which have yet to change for many energy companies despite high oil and gas prices and improved profitability;

Art Smith, chairman of John S. Herold Inc., provides a fascinating look at the Big Six oil majors and how they and some of the larger independents may repurchase up to $25 billion in stock this year and the implications for shareholders;

David Wood, our UK-based consultant, continues his series on portfolio management and how to maximize the efficiency of diverse assets amid ever-changing conditions;

One of our best-received features is Capital Perspectives, in which leading industry figures from the user and provider sides of financing talk about key issues from their respective positions. This month, Jim Wicklund of Banc of America Securities gives the provider point of view, while Bill Schumann, senior vice president, CFO, and treasurer of FMC Technologies, provides the user perspective.

Not to be overlooked is the Quarterly Pricing Poll with useful information provided by Oil & Gas Journal Exchange/Madison Energy Advisors. And last, but certainly not least, is the OGJ200 Quarterly Report with analysis provided by Marilyn Radler, OGJ economics editor, and Laura Bell, OGJ statistics editor. These reports run four times each year.

We intend to explore financial issues facing the petroleum industry in depth in these pages, but to do so effectively, we need your help.

Feedback in any form is welcomed. Like everybody, we like positive reinforcement of what we have done, but more important are your candid opinions about what you read in these pages and your thoughts on what you'd like to see in future issues. Over the coming months, we will be conducting reader surveys to help us learn exactly what subjects are of optimum value and interest.

It is not our purpose to write puff pieces on our industry. Rather, our goal is to serve the energy community by focusing on critical issues, such as where capital will come from to advance needed energy projects, corporate governance, and legal and geopolitical topics – to name just a few. We won't hesitate to tackle tough stories because we want you the reader to see us as a critical but constructive information source. Anything less is not in the best interest of the industry we serve.

If there is a topic you would like to see us cover in these pages, please contact me directly at 713-963-6235 or [email protected] and we can discuss it. My door is always open, and I look forward to hearing from you.

Don Stowers