Top Gas Companies To Own In Right Now

European stocks closed little changed, as the benchmark Stoxx Europe 600 Index extended its highest level since June 2008.

Snam SpA (SRG) dropped the most in almost a year as Eni SpA sold an 11.7 percent stake in the owner of Italy�� biggest natural-gas network. Wm Morrison Supermarkets Plc tumbled the most in more than 14 months. Experian Plc jumped to a record after the world�� largest credit-checking company raised its dividend and announced a share buyback.

The Stoxx 600 added less than 0.1 percent to 303.74 at the close in London. The benchmark gauge advanced yesterday amid better-than-estimated corporate earnings and has gained 8.6 percent so far in 2013, its best start to a year since 2006. Markets in Switzerland, the Nordic countries and Austria are closed today for Ascension Day. Most businesses closed today in Germany for the holiday.

��fter stock markets roared back recently, market participants are taking a pause,��Stephane Ekolo, chief European strategist at Market Securities in London, wrote in a message. ��ositive economic data this week and a good set of corporate earnings in the U.S. helped push European bourses higher. Liquidity from central banks is clearly supportive of the stock market at the moment.��

Top Gas Companies To Own In Right Now: Pinecrest Energy Inc (PNCGF.PK)

Pinecrest Energy Inc. (Pinecrest), formerly Antler Creek Energy Corp., is a Canada-based junior oil and gas exploration company. Pinecrest is engaged in the acquisition, exploitation and development of petroleum and natural gas-related assets primarily in Western Sedimentary Basin. During the fiscal year ended July 31, 2010 (fiscal 2010), Pinecrest was engaged in two (0.4 net) wells that were drilled in the southeast Saskatchewan Bakken. On July 14, 2010, the Company acquired the Loon Properties. On July 14, 2010, Pinecrest acquired the Red Earth #1 Properties. On July 15, 2010, the Company acquired the Red Earth #2 Properties. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By MLP Trader]

  Here are the current top five companies in the list:

  CompanySymbolEV/BOEPD/NetbackPrice/NAVEV/DACFPinecrest(PNCGF.PK)53564%4.0XLightstream(LSTMF.PK)131753%4.5XNovus(NOVUF.PK)133290%4.1XZargon(ZARFF.PK)138664%5.6XTwin Butte(TBTEF.PK)155885%5.5X

  Of the larger companies, one that remains obstinately near the top of the list is Lightstream . Lightstream trades at 40% of its book value and a whopping 13.4% yield.

Top Gas Companies To Own In Right Now: Equal Energy Ltd (EQU)

Equal Energy Ltd. (Equal), incorporated on April 8, 2010, is an exploration and production company with oil and gas properties located principally in Alberta, and Oklahoma. Equal is engaged in the exploration for, and acquisition, development and production of, petroleum and natural gas with operations in western Canada and Oklahoma. During the year ended December 31, 2011, production averaged 10,142 barrel of oil equivalent per day and was consisted of approximately 47% natural gas, 23% crude oil and 30% natural gas liquids (NGLs). Equal Energy Production Partnership (EEPP) holds all of Equal�� Canadian oil and gas properties and associated assets. Equal and Equal Energy Partner Corp. (EEPC) are the partners in EEPP and respectively hold a 99.9957% and 0.0043% interest in EEPP. Equal Energy US Holdings Inc. (EEUSHI) is an indirect, wholly owned subsidiary of Equal. EEUSHI holds all of Equal�� Oklahoma oil and gas properties and associated assets through its wholly owned subsidiary, Equal Energy US Inc. On January 31, 2012, it sold Primate. During 2011, it sold non-core assets in Alberta and British Columbia. On October 15, 2012, it sold the Halkirk/Alliance/Wainwright/Clair Assets (HAWC) and all remaining Canadian non-producing assets. Effective October 1, 2012, the Company sold its Lochend Cardium assets.

The Company�� production comes from both its Canadian and United States based operations. The Canadian core areas lie in western Canada and include assets primarily in the province of Alberta. The United States area assets are located mainly in the Grant, Jefferson, Lincoln and Logan counties of Oklahoma. It also has an inventory of minor producing assets, minor royalty interests and various exploration and exploitation prospects on undeveloped lands in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Oklahoma.

Alberta

The Company�� assets include a 100% working interest in 7,360 gross (4,260 net) acres of land (1,220 net undeveloped acres), 16 producing wells, six water inj! ection wells, and a interest in an oil blending facility. Natural gas is conserved and processed at the Encana Sexsmith gas plant. Oil is delivered into the Pembina Peace Pipeline System. Oil and natural gas production is primarily from the Doe Creek (Dunvegan) formation. There is also natural gas production from one Charlie Lake well. As of December 31, 2011, average working interest production was 227 barrel per day of oil and 316 million cubic feet per day of natural gas.

Lochend is located approximately 20 kilometers northwest of Calgary. At Lochend, the Company holds 8,653 gross (7,996 net) acres of land with 5,970 net undeveloped acres, and 11 producing wells. Oil is produced into single or multi-well batteries and trucked to terminal facilities. Half of the solution gas is conserved at the TriOil Shiningbank gas plant by the third quarter majority of the gas should be conserved. Oil and natural gas production is from the Cardium formation. As of December 31, 2011, average working interest production was 330 barrel per day of oil and 69 thousand cubic feet per day of gas. The McDaniel Report has assigned total proved plus probable reserves of 1,621 thousand barrels of crude oil, 2.6 billion cubic feet of natural gas, and 64.8 thousand barrels of NGL to the Lochend property.

Oklahoma

In Oklahoma the principal producing horizon is the Hunton formation. The Hunton is a carbonate rock formation. As of December 31, 2011, average Hunton production in Oklahoma was 29.9 million cubic feet of natural gas per day of natural gas and 3,862 barrels of oil per day of crude oil and NGLs. The Haas Report has attributed total proved and probable reserves of 499 thousand barrels of crude oil, and 108 billion cubic feet of natural gas and 13,931 thousand barrels of NGLs to the Hunton.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jake L'Ecuyer]

  Leading and Lagging Sectors
  In trading on Friday, energy shares were relative leaders, up on the day by about 0.06 percent. Among the leading sector stocks, gains came from Equal Energy (NYSE: EQU) and Niska Gas Storage Partners LLC (NYSE: NKA). Financial sector was the leading decliner in the US market today.

Hot Low Price Companies To Own In Right Now: Schlumberger N.V.(SLB)

Schlumberger Limited, together with its subsidiaries, supplies technology, integrated project management, and information solutions to the oil and gas exploration and production industries worldwide. The company?s Oilfield Services segment provides exploration and production services; wireline technology that offers open-hole and cased-hole services; supplies engineering support, directional-drilling, measurement-while-drilling, and logging-while-drilling services; and testing services. This segment also offers well services; supplies well completion services and equipment; artificial lift; data and consulting services; geo services; and information solutions, such as consulting, software, information management system, and IT infrastructure services that support oil and gas industry. Its WesternGeco segment provides reservoir imaging, monitoring, and development services; and operates data processing centers and multiclient seismic library. This segment also offers variou s services include 3D and time-lapse (4D) seismic surveys to multi-component surveys for delineating prospects and reservoir management. The company?s M-I SWACO segment supplies drilling fluid systems to improve drilling performance; fluid systems and specialty tools to optimize wellbore productivity; production technology solutions to maximize production rates; and environmental solutions that manages waste volumes generated in drilling and production operations. Its Smith Oilfield segment designs, manufactures, and markets drill bits and borehole enlargement tools; and supplies drilling tools and services, tubular, completion services, and other related downhole solutions. The company?s Distribution segment markets pipes, valves, and fittings, as well as mill, safety, and other maintenance products. This segment also provides warehouse management, vendor integration, and inventory management services. Schlumberger Limited was founded in 1927 and is based in Houston, Texas.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  Halliburton (NYSE: HAL  ) will release its quarterly report on Tuesday, and investors have expressed some concerns in recent months about the oil-services company's future prospects, bidding share prices down from their near-record high levels. After strong earnings from Schlumberger (NYSE: SLB  ) last week, investors want Halliburton earnings growth to show similar gains, but the company will still have to work hard to outperform peers including Baker Hughes (NYSE: BHI  ) and offshore specialist Transocean (NYSE: RIG  ) .

• [By Tyler Crowe and Aimee Duffy]

  About 1% of all drilling operations are powered by natural gas. By shifting all drilling operations over to natural gas, the industry could save as much as $1.6 billion a year. The idea has such appeal that both Haliburton (NYSE: HAL  ) and Schlumberger (NYSE: SLB  ) have said that they would be willing to test sites with Apache for free. In this video, Fool.com contributor Tyler Crowe talks about how the industry could convert to natural-gas-powered operations, and highlights companies to look out for that could benefit from this movement.

Top Gas Companies To Own In Right Now: Targa Resources Partners LP (NGLS)

Targa Resources Partners LP is a limited partnership formed by Targa Resources, Corp (Targa). The Company is a provider of midstream natural gas and natural gas liquid (NGL) services in the United States and is engaged in the business of gathering, compressing, treating, processing and selling natural gas and storing, fractionating, treating, transporting, terminaling and selling NGLs, NGL products, refined petroleum products and crude oil. It operates in two divisions: Natural Gas Gathering and Processing, which include Field Gathering and Processing and Coastal Gathering and Processing, and Logistics and Marketing, which includes Logistics Assets and Marketing and Distribution. On March 15, 2011, it acquired a refined petroleum products and crude oil storage and terminaling facility in Channelview, Texas. On September 30, 2011 it acquired refined petroleum products and crude oil storage and terminaling facilities in two separate transactions. On December 31, 2012, the Company acquired Saddle Butte Pipeline, LLC.

Natural Gas Gathering and Processing Division

The Company�� natural gas gathering and processing division consists of gathering, compressing, dehydrating, treating, conditioning, processing, transporting and marketing natural gas. The gathering of natural gas consists of aggregating natural gas produced from various wells through small diameter gathering lines to processing plants. It sells its residue gas either directly to such end users or to marketers into intrastate or interstate pipelines. The Field Gathering and Processing segment gathers and processes natural gas from the Permian Basin in West Texas and Southeast New Mexico and the Fort Worth Basin, including the Barnett Shale, in North Texas. The natural gas it processes is supplied through its gathering systems which, in aggregate, consist of approximately 10,400 miles of natural gas pipelines. The segment�� processing plants include nine owned and operated facilities. During the year ended December 31! , 2011, the Company processed an average of approximately 612 million cubic feet/day (MMcf/d) of natural gas and produced an average of approximately 74 million barrels per day (MBbl/d) of NGLs.

The Field Gathering and Processing segment�� operations consist of the Permian Business, Versado, SAOU and the North Texas System. The Permian Business consists of the Sand Hills gathering and processing system and the West Seminole and Puckett gathering systems in West Texas. These systems consist of approximately 1,400 miles of natural gas gathering pipelines. Versado consists of the Saunders, Eunice and Monument gas processing plants and related gathering systems in Southeastern New Mexico. Versado consists of approximately 3,200 miles of natural gas gathering pipelines. Covering portions of 10 counties and approximately 4,000 square miles in West Texas, SAOU includes approximately 1,667 miles of pipelines in the Permian Basin that gather natural gas to the Mertzon, Sterling, and Conger processing plants. SAOU has 31 compressor stations to inject low pressure gas into the high-pressure pipelines.

The North Texas System includes two interconnected gathering systems with approximately 4,200 miles of pipelines, covering portions of 15 counties and approximately 5,700 square miles, gathering wellhead natural gas for the Chico and Shackelford natural gas processing facilities. The Chico gathering system consists of approximately 2,100 miles of primarily low-pressure gathering pipelines. Wellhead natural gas is either gathered for the Chico plant located in Wise County, Texas, and then compressed for processing, or it is compressed in the field at numerous compressor stations and then moved through one of several gathering pipelines to the Chico plant. Its Coastal Gathering and Processing segment assets are located in the onshore region of the Louisiana Gulf Coast and the Gulf of Mexico. LOU consists of approximately 875 miles of gathering system pipelines, covering approximately 3,800 ! square mi! les in Southwest Louisiana. The gathering system is connected to numerous producing wells and/or central delivery points in the area between Lafayette and Lake Charles, Louisiana. The processing facilities include the Gillis and Acadia processing plants, both of which are cryogenic plants.

Logistics and Marketing Division

The Company includes the activities necessary to convert mixed NGLs into NGL products and provide certain value added services, such as the fractionation, storage, terminaling, transportation, distribution and marketing of NGLs, as well as certain natural gas supply and marketing activities in support of its other businesses. Its Logistics Assets Segment uses its platform of integrated assets to receive, fractionate, store, treat, transport and deliver NGLs typically under fee-based arrangements. Its logistics assets are connected to and supplied in part by its Natural Gas Gathering and Processing assets and are primarily located at Mont Belvieu and Galena Park near Houston, Texas and in Lake Charles, Louisiana. Across the Logistics Assets segment, it owns or operates a total of 39 storage wells at its facilities with a net storage capacity of approximately 64 million barrels of oil (MMBbl), the usage of which may be limited by brine handling capacity, which is utilized to displace NGLs from storage. It operates its storage and terminaling facilities based on the needs and requirements of its customers. Its fractionation, storage and terminaling business is supported by approximately 940 miles of company owned pipelines to transport mixed NGLs and specification products.

The Company markets its own NGL production and also purchases component NGL products from other NGL producers and marketers for resale. During 2011, the Company�� distribution and marketing services business sold an average of approximately 273 MBbl/d of NGLs. Its wholesale propane marketing operations primarily sell propane and related logistics services to multi-state retailer! s, indepe! ndent retailers and other end-users. Its propane supply primarily originates from both its refinery/gas supply contracts and its other owned or managed logistics and marketing assets. In its refinery services business, the Company provide NGL balancing services through contractual arrangements with refiners to purchase and/or market propane and to supply butanes. It uses commercial transportation assets and contract for and use the storage, transportation and distribution assets included in its Logistics Assets segment to assist refinery customers in managing their NGL product demand and production schedules.

The Company�� NGL transportation and distribution infrastructure includes a range of assets supporting both third-party customers and the delivery requirements of its marketing and asset management business. It provides fee-based transportation services to refineries and petrochemical companies throughout the Gulf Coast area. As of December 31, 2011, its transportation assets include approximately 565 railcars that it lease and manage; approximately 74 owned and leased transport tractors and approximately 100 company owned tank trailers, and 18 company owned pressurized NGL barges.

The Company competes with Atlas Gas Pipeline Company, Copano Energy, L.L.C. (Copano), WTG Gas Processing, L.P. (WTG), DCP Midstream Partners LP (DCP), Devon Energy Corp (Devon), Enbridge Inc., GulfSouth Pipeline Company, LP, Hanlon Gas Processing, Ltd., J W Operating Company, Louisiana Intrastate Gas, Enterprise Products Partners L.P., DCP, ONEOK and BP p.l.c.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Brian Pacampara]

  Based on the aggregated intelligence of 180,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, midstream natural gas services specialist Targa Resources Partners� (NYSE: NGLS  ) has earned a coveted five-star ranking.

• [By Tyler Laundon]

  It's a pure play Permian oil stock. It's also a fairly pure oil investment. The company's production split is 75% oil, 14% natural gas liquids (NGLs) and 11% natural gas. On a revenue basis, 90% of revenues come from oil, while 6% and 4% come from NGLs and natural gas, respectively.

• [By Eric Volkman]

  The dividends are continuing to flow at the closely related companies Targa Resources (NYSE: TRGP  ) and Targa Resources Partners (NYSE: NGLS  ) . Q2 distributions for both have been declared; the former will hand out $0.5325 per share on Aug. 15 to shareholders of record as of July 29, while Targa Resources Partners is to dispense $0.7150 per unit on Aug. 14 to holders of record as of July 29.

Top Gas Companies To Own In Right Now: Artek Exploration Ltd (ARKXF.PK)

Artek Exploration Ltd. (Artek) is a junior oil and gas company engaged in the exploration for, and the acquisition, development and production of, oil and natural gas reserves in western Canada. Artek's principal properties include Peace River Arch, Alberta; Deep Basin, Alberta and British Columbia; Inga/Fireweed, British Columbia, and Central Alberta. During the year ended December 31, 2011, the Company drilled six gross (3.7 net) wells, including two gross (1.6 net) oil wells and four gross (2.1 net) natural gas wells. On June 20, 2012, it had drilled and completed its second of a seven horizontal well program (60% working interest) at its Doig natural gas and condensate pool in the Inga area of British Columbia. On January 1, 2012, the Company divested 33% of its non-operated oil and gas assets in the Leduc Woodbend area. In August 2013, the Company announced that it has completed the acquisition of Fireweed asset. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Value Digger]

  As peers, I selected Artek Exploration (ARKXF.PK), RMP Energy (OEXFF.PK), Synergy Resources (SYRG) and Magnum Hunter Resources (MHR). The first two firms trade also on the main Toronto board under the tickers RTK.TO and RMP.TO respectively. These peers comply with the following criteria:

Top Gas Companies To Own In Right Now: Bonavista Energy Corp (BNPUF.PK)

Bonavista Energy Corporation (Bonavista) is engaged in the acquisition, exploration, development and production of oil and natural gas assets. The Company operates approximately 87% of its assets which are concentrated within three core regions in western Canada. Each core region contains a well-balanced portfolio of oil and natural gas assets with considerable opportunities. Its operations are geographically focused within three regions of Western Canada, which includes Western region, Northern region and Eastern region. The Company�� subsidiaries include Bonavista Petroleum (BP), Bonavista Energy LP (BELP) and Bonavista Energy Inc. (BEI). Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Stephan Dube]

  Cold Lake's most notable producers:

  Husky Energy (HUSK.PK), see article here.Pengrowth Energy Corporation (PGH), see article here.Southern Pacific Resource (STPJF.PK), see article here.Canadian Natural Resources (CNQ), see article here.Devon Energy (DVN), see article here.Imperial Oil (IMO), see article here.Baytex, see article here.Bonavista Energy (BNPUF.PK), see article here.

  Athabasca's most notable producers:

Top Gas Companies To Own In Right Now: Lehigh Gas Partners LP (LGP)

Lehigh Gas Partners LP, incorporated on December 2, 2011, is engaged in the wholesale distribution of motor fuels, consisting of gasoline and diesel fuel, and to own and lease real estate used in the retail distribution of motor fuels. It generates revenues from the wholesale distribution of motor fuels to gas stations, truck stops and toll road plazas, which it refers to as sites, and from real estate leases. It generates cash flows from the wholesale distribution of motor fuels by charging a per gallon margin. Its supply agreements with lessee dealers have three-year terms, and its supply agreements with independent dealers generally have 10-year terms. In May 2011, the Company acquired from Motiva Enterprises, LLC (Motiva) a total of 26 Shell Oil Company branded gas stations and convenience stores (Shell Locations) located in New Jersey and also acquired 56 wholesale fuel supply agreements. In September 2013, the Company announced that it has completed asset acquisition in the Knoxville, Tennessee region from Rocky Top Markets, LLC and Rocky Top Properties, LLC.

The Company generates cash flows from rental income by collecting rent from lessee dealers and Lehigh Gas-Ohio, LLC (LGO) pursuant to lease agreements. During the year ended December 31, 2011, it distributed approximately 561 million gallons of motor fuels to 570 sites. In addition, it has agreements requiring the operators of these sites to purchase motor fuels from it. As of December 31, 2011, it distributed motor fuels to the classes of businesses, including 185 independent dealers; 181 sites owned or leased by it and that will be operated by LGO following the closing of this offering; 134 sites owned or leased by it and operated by lessee dealers; and 70 sites distributed through six sub-wholesalers. In May 2012, the Company entered into a master lease agreement to lease 120 sites from an affiliate of Getty Realty Corp. Of the 120 sites, 74 are located in Massachusetts, 22 are located in New Hampshire, 15 are located in Pen! nsylvania and nine are located in Maine. The Company is focused on owning and leasing sites located in metropolitan and urban areas. It owns and leases sites located in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Ohio, New York, Massachusetts, Kentucky, New Hampshire and Maine.

Wholesale Motor Fuel Distribution

The Company purchases branded and unbranded motor fuel from integrated oil companies, refiners and unbranded fuel suppliers. It distributes motor fuel to lessee dealers, independent dealers, LGO and sub-wholesalers. The Company is a distributor of brands of motor fuel, as well as unbranded motor fuel. During the year ended December 31, 2011, it distributed approximately 561 million gallons of motor fuel. It distributes motor fuel to lessee dealers and independent dealers under supply agreements. It provides credit terms to its lessee dealers and independent dealers, which are generally one to three days.

The Company distributes motor fuel to sub-wholesalers under supply agreements. Under its supply agreements, it agrees to supply a particular branded motor fuel or unbranded motor fuel to the sub-wholesaler. Motor fuels are sold to the sub-wholesalers at rack plus. It provides credit terms to its sub-wholesalers, which are one to three days. Branded motor fuels are purchased from integrated oil companies and refiners under supply agreements. During the year ended December 31, 2011, its wholesale business purchased approximately 46%, 23%, 22% and 5% of its motor fuel from ExxonMobil, BP Products North America, Inc. (BP), Shell Oil Company (Shell) and Valero respectively.

Real Estate

The Company owns or lease 315 sites located in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Ohio, New York, Massachusetts and Kentucky. 186 of the sites it owns fee simple and 107 sites it leases from third-party landlords. Over 90% of its sites are located in metropolitan and urban areas. It derives its rental income from sites it owns or leases. It collects rent from the lessee dealers and! LGO purs! uant to lease agreements it has with the lessee dealers and LGO. All of its 186 owned sites are leased to lessee dealers or LGO. Its leases with the lessee dealers have three year terms. As of December 31, 2011, the average remaining lease term for owned sites it leases to lessee dealers was 1.8 years. As of December 31, 2011, it also leased 98 sites from third-parties and then sub-leased these sites to lessee dealers and LGO. As of December 31, 2011, the average remaining lease term for sites it leases from third-parties was 7.5 years. Its sub-leases with the lessee dealers have three-year terms. The average remaining sub-lease term for sites it sub-lease to lessee dealers is 4.2 years.

The rental income the Company earns from sites it owns or leases include rental income associated with the personal property located on these sites, such as motor fuel pumps. It sells sites, which it owns and then leases the sites back from the buyer. It refers to these transactions as sale-leasebacks. In these sale-leaseback transactions, it retains the environmental liabilities associated with the site. As of December 11, 2012, the Company leased 22 sale-leaseback sites. As of December 31, 2011, the average remaining lease term of these sale-leaseback sites was 17.5 years. It sub-leases its sale-leaseback sites to lessee dealers and LGO. Its sub-leases with the lessee dealers have three-year terms. As of December 31, 2011, the average remaining sub-lease term for sites it sub-lease to lessee dealers was 2.1 years. As of December 31, 2011, the Company owned 186 sites.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Robert Rapier]

  Non-traditional MLPs like Susser and Lehigh Gas Partners (NYSE: LGP) have risks and opportunities that are different from the midstream mainstream. Such MLPs can provide some diversification from the midstream MLPs that make up the bulk of the space, with less commodity and execution risk than most upstream partnerships. On the other hand, they are unlikely to have the same potential upside and growth opportunities as most midstream names. I might consider Susser as part a broader portfolio of MLPs, but it wouldn’t be a core holding in my own portfolio.

• [By Ali Berri]

  Lehigh Gas Partners LP (NYSE: LGP) shares shot up 24.13 percent to $32.25 after CST Brands (NYSE: CST) announced its plans to acquire Lehigh Gas GP LLC, the general partner of Lehigh Gas Partners LP. Lehigh Gas Partners also reported its financial results for the second quarter.
  

Top Gas Companies To Own In Right Now: Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSA)

Royal Dutch Shell plc (Shell), incorporated on February 5, 2002, is an independent oil and gas company. The Company owns, directly or indirectly, investments in the numerous companies constituting Shell. Shell is engaged worldwide in the principal aspects of the oil and gas industry and also has interests in chemicals and other energy-related businesses. The Company operates in three segments: Upstream, Downstream and Corporate. Upstream combines the operating segments Upstream International and Upstream Americas, which are engaged in searching for and recovering crude oil and natural gas; the liquefaction and transportation of gas; the extraction of bitumen from oil sands that is converted into synthetic crude oil, and wind energy. Downstream is engaged in manufacturing; distribution and marketing activities for oil products and chemicals, in alternative energy (excluding wind), and carbon dioxide (CO2) management. Corporate represents the key support functions, comprising holdings and treasury, headquarters, central functions and Shell�� self-insurance activities. In October 2011, the Company bought a marine terminal on Canada's Pacific Coast as a possible site for a liquefied natural gas export terminal. In January 2012, the Company's 50% owned, Australia Arrow Energy Holdings Pty Ltd acquired all of the shares in Bow Energy Ltd. In January 2014, Royal Dutch Shell plc completed the acquisition of Repsol S.A.'s liquefied natural gas (LNG) portfolio outside North America.

Upstream International manages the Upstream businesses outside the Americas. It searches for and recovers crude oil and natural gas, liquefies and transports gas, and operates the upstream and midstream infrastructure necessary to deliver oil and gas to market. Upstream International also manages Shell�� entire liquefied petroleum gas (LNG) business, gas to liquids (GTL) and the wind business in Europe. Its activities are organized primarily within geographical units, although there are some activities that are mana! ged across the businesses or provided through support units.

Upstream Americas manages the Upstream businesses in North and South America. It searches for and recovers crude oil and natural gas, transports gas and operates the upstream and midstream infrastructure necessary to deliver oil and gas to market. Upstream Americas also extracts bitumen from oil sands that is converted into synthetic crude oil. Additionally, it manages the United States-based wind business. It comprises operations organized into business-wide managed activities and supporting activities.

Downstream manages Shell�� manufacturing, distribution and marketing activities for oil products and chemicals. These activities are organized into globally managed classes of business, although some are managed regionally or provided through support units. Manufacturing and supply includes refining, supply and shipping of crude oil. Marketing sells a range of products including fuels, lubricants, bitumen and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) for home, transport and industrial use. Chemicals produces and markets petrochemicals for industrial customers, including the raw materials for plastics, coatings and detergents. Downstream also trades Shell�� flow of hydrocarbons and other energy-related products, supplies the Downstream businesses, markets gas and power and provides shipping services. Downstream additionally oversees Shell�� interests in alternative energy (including biofuels, and excluding wind) and CO2 management.

Projects and Technology manages the delivery of Shell�� major projects and drives the research and innovation to create technology solutions. It provides technical services and technology capability covering both Upstream and Downstream activities. It is also responsible for providing functional leadership across Shell in the areas of health, safety and environment, and contracting and procurement.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By WALLSTCHEATSHEET]

  Royal Dutch Shell is focused on oil and gas exploration and distribution, with operations all around the world. The company recently reported earnings that are not sitting well with investors. The stock is now trading near lows for the year, and it may need some time to recover. Over the last four quarters, earnings have been mixed, while revenue figures have been declining. Relative to its peers and sector, Royal Dutch Shell has been a poor year-to-date performer. WAIT AND SEE what Royal Dutch Shell does this coming quarter.

• [By Jeff Reeves]

  The largest dedicated Europe ETF by assets is the Vanguard FTSE Europe ETF (VGK), with about $13 billion under management. Top holdings include U.K.-based Royal Dutch Shell (RDSA), Swiss consumer products maker Nestle (NSRGY) and HSBC.

• [By WALLSTCHEATSHEET]

  Royal Dutch Shell is focused on oil and gas exploration and distribution, with operations all around the world. The company recently posted earnings that have not really pleased investors. The stock has struggled to make significant progress in recent years and is now trading near the low-end of its yearly range. Over the last four quarters, earnings and revenues have been mixed, which has not really pleased investors in the company. Relative to its peers and sector, Royal Dutch Shell has been a weak year-to-date performer. WAIT AND SEE what Royal Dutch Shell does this coming quarter.