The Real Estate of Oil

By Andrew Beattie | November 10, 2014 The oil industry goes far beyond simply extracting crude from the ground. On top of the companies drilling and pumping oil, there are dozens more providing services like hauling, maintenance, safety services, refining and so on. The bigger the oil reserves, the more economic ripples it causes. In this article, we’ll take a look at how the oil industry can affect real estate. Lease Land Lease land is the most obvious connection between oil drilling and land values. When an area is found to be productive for oil, gas or another mineral, the lease price on adjacent lands tend to rise rapidly. Once fracking made the Marcellus and Eagle Ford shale productive for oil and gas, the lease prices on acres in Texas and Pennsylvania shot up. The leases also pay royalties, making millionaires out of people who were ranchers and farmers before the boom. The lease prices are paid by oil and gas companies looking to drill, but that new source of potential income impacts the price for all land sales in those areas, even if it is for development or agricultural purposes. The fact that an oil company could end up leasing and producing off the acres for sale gets baked into any future sales in those regions. The Labor Pull Without a doubt, the big money is made in land leases and royalties, but there is an equally strong upward pressure on real estate prices from the influx of labor needed to extract oil and gas from productive fields. As mentioned before, there all sorts of oil service businesses that support exploration and extraction. That said, it goes far beyond businesses with a direct oil connection. The influx of workers requires more restaurants, more hotels, more mechanics, more clinics, more traffic lights, more roads, more of everything - including housing. There are several deposits in North America that are expected to be producing for decades. Mobile labor flows into these areas to earn money and many end up settling nearby their work. Whether it is Midland, Texas, or Grande Prairie, Alberta, the price of existing and new homes rise due to the strong local economy. With oil wages available to many people with relatively basic skill sets, other sectors need to raise wages to compete. This means that the labor needed to build new homes also goes up, adding to the upward pressure on real estate. Bottom Line Oil and gas extraction can be lucrative for the companies doing it, but it also has economic benefits that ripple throughout the active drilling regions. The discovery of a new deposit or the introduction of new technology to unlock existing deposits can represent a huge windfall for landowners. Buying and building to accommodate a booming population is a different way for landlords to profit. When it comes to real estate, it is location, location, location - and a location with oil or gas underneath may be the most attractive type of all. TAGS: Commodities Crude Oil Energy Oil & Gas Refining & Marketing Oil Economy Real Estate Development Sector - Mining Quarrying Oil and Gas Extraction

Storm to buy Bellamont for C$82.6 mln

Nestor: Grande Prairie, Alberta signs 5-Year contract for automated red light enforcement system Fri, Feb 02 11:15 AM EST Co announces the City of Grande Prairie, Alberta, Canada has signed a contract with Trafco Canada, Nestor Traffic Systems' Canadian partner, for automated red light enforcement systems and services for 22 approaches at 7 intersections in the city. N.T.S and Trafco will provide NEST's turnkey CrossingGuard automated red light enforcement system and services at those 22 approaches. CrossingGuard's multiple, synchronized cameras provide accurate and dependable violation evidence in over 40 cities in North America. ========== UPDATE 1-Storm to buy Bellamont for C$82.6 mln Fri, Jan 20 10:55 AM EST Jan 20 (Reuters) - Oil and gas producer Storm Resources Ltd said it would buy smaller rival Bellamont Exploration Ltd in a cash-and-stock deal valued at C$82.6 million, to beef up its operations in the Montney formation in British Columbia. Bellamont stockholders can opt to receive 56 Canadian cents a share in cash, subject to a maximum aggregate consideration of C$20.0 million. They can also choose to swap each of their shares for 0.1445 of a Storm share, or to be paid in both cash and stock. The cash part of the deal is 33 percent more than Bellamont's Thursday close. Storm, which would also take on C$40 million in Bellamont's debt, will raise C$25 million by offering their shares at C$3.40 each in a bought deal to fund the transaction. The deal also includes assets in the Grande Prairie area of northwestern Alberta with current production of about 2,200 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boe/d). Bellamont shares were trading up 13 percent at 47.5 Canadian cents on Friday on the Toronto Venture Exchange. ========= Snapshot for Storm Resources Ltd (SRX) Open: 1.9500 Day's Range: 1.8000 - 1.9600 Volume: 11,408 Bid: 1.7600 Previous Close: 1.9700 52wk Range: 1.0500 - 4.0000 1-Yr Rtn: -51.32% Ask: 1.8500 Stock Chart for SRX ============== UPDATE 2-NuVista says to stop dividend Tue, Feb 15 10:09 AM EST * Sees 2011 average production volumes 26,000-27,000 boe/d * Forecasts capital program of C$160-C$180 mln * Forms executive committee to search for new CEO (Rewrites lead; Adds details, share milestone) Feb 15 (Reuters) - Canada's NuVista Energy Ltd said it will not pay dividend and will use the cash to fund its drilling program, and forecast 2011 average production volume which came in below 2010 projections. NuVista initiated a quarterly dividend of 5 Canadian cents per share on March 8, 2010. The intermediate oil and natural gas company is engaged in exploration, development and production activities on properties located in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin (WCSB), which includes southwestern Manitoba, southern Saskatchewan, Alberta and northeastern British Columbia. NuVista, formed through the reorganization of Bonavista Petroleum Ltd in July 2003, forecast 2011 average production volumes of 26,000-27,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boe/d), and said its board approved a capital program of C$160-C$180 million for the year. For 2010, the board had approved a capital budget of C$240-C$280 million and said it expected production to average 30,000-31,000 boe/d. NuVista said in 2011 it will continue to focus on evaluating oil and liquids-rich natural gas resource plays, in particular its Wapiti Montney resource play in Grande Prairie, Alberta. About 20 percent of the capital program will be used for the development of the Montney rights, the company said. NuVista, which also entered into a bought-deal agreement to raise C$33.3 million, forecast 2011 cash flow of C$160-C$180 million . The company, whose Chief Executive Alex Verge resigned last November at the request of the board, said it has formed an executive committee to search for a president and CEO. It, however, did not say when it would appoint the new CEO. NuVista shares, which have lost nearly a third of their value in the last one year, were down 11 Canadian cents at C$9.68 on Tuesday on the Toronto Stock Exchange. (Reporting by Bhaswati Mukhopadhyay in Bangalore; Editing by Anne Pallivathuckal and Joyjeet Das) Snapshot for NuVista Energy Ltd (NVA) Open: 5.5300 Day's Range: 5.4800 - 5.5600 Volume: 128,908 Bid: 5.5300 Previous Close: 5.5100 52wk Range: 2.6400 - 5.9000 1-Yr Rtn: +23.61% Ask: 5.5500 ==============