A world economy in sincere recovery, with great improving sings, continues to push up the demand for fossil fuel. It is no secret that oil is the one single most important resource for economic growth. That is the simplest argument for the continued U.S. intervention in the Middle East, and increasing Chinese presence in the African continent. Most importantly, a slowdown of the Chinese economy and comparatively slower recovery of the euro zone, have lifted some pressure form explorers and producers. Nonetheless, Obama�� visit to Saudi Arabia highlights the importance of securing oil resources. Apache (APA) is one of the most geographically diversified companies, and its prospects for growth deserve to be considered after a year of heavy guru trading.
Adjusting Capacity Through Non-Core Assets
Asset sales are not always well received by the market, as the signal can be taken to indicate troubling times. Apache, however, has divested non-non non-performing assets while receiving timid market support at the same time. The announcements concerned assets in Canada and Argentina, the first worth $374 million and the second for $800 million, plus a debt assumption of $52 million. Both transactions are part of a process that began last year to focus on assets in North America that can grow more predictably.
Hot High Tech Stocks To Own Right Now: Cogent Communications Group Inc.(CCOI)
Cogent Communications Group, Inc. provides high-speed Internet access, Internet Protocol, and communications services primarily to small and medium-sized businesses, communications service providers, and other bandwidth-intensive organizations in North America, Europe, and Japan. It offers on-net services to bandwidth-intensive users, such as universities, other Internet service providers, telephone companies, cable television companies, and commercial content providers; and multi-tenant office buildings, including law firms, financial services firms, advertising and marketing firms, and other professional services businesses. The company also provides its on-net services in carrier-neutral colocation facilities, Cogent controlled data centers, and single-tenant office buildings. In addition, it offers off-net services to businesses that are connected to its network primarily by means of last mile access service lines obtained from other carriers primarily in the form of p oint-to-point TDM, POS, SDH, and/or carrier ethernet circuits. Further, the company provides voice services; and Internet connectivity to customers that are not located in buildings directly connected to the company?s network. Additionally, it operates 43 data centers that allow customers to co-locate their equipment and access its network. Cogent Communications Group, Inc. was founded in 1999 and is headquartered in Washington, D.C.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By The GeoTeam]
We will get more into the plain English version of what GTT does later. GTT's closest comparative publicly traded company is Cogent Communications Group, Inc. (CCOI). Cogent and Global Telecom are forecast to reach revenues of $400 million and $200 million in 2014, respectively.
- [By Lee Jackson]
Cogent Communications Group Inc. (NASDAQ: CCOI) provides high-speed Internet access, Internet protocol (IP) and communications services, primarily to small and medium-sized businesses, communications service providers and other bandwidth-intensive organizations in North America, Europe and Japan. The consensus price target for the stock is $35. Investors receive a 1.7% dividend. Cogent closed Thursday at $32.12.
Best Performing Stocks To Invest In 2014: Radio One Inc.(ROIAK)
Radio One, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates as an urban-oriented multi-media company in the United States. It engages in the radio broadcasting operation that primarily targets African-American and urban listeners. As of December 31, 2011, the company owned and operated 54 broadcast stations located in 16 urban markets. It also operates an African-American targeted cable television network and Tom Joyner Morning Show; and owns online platform serving the African-American community through social content, news, information, and entertainment, as well as operates various online social networking Websites, including BlackPlanet, MiGente, and Asian Avenue. The company was founded in 1980 and is based in Lanham, Maryland.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Roberto Pedone]
Radio One (ROIAK), together with its subsidiaries, operates as an urban-oriented multimedia company in the U.S. This stock closed up 3% to $2.67 in Tuesday's trading session.
Tuesday's Range: $2.56-$2.74
52-Week Range: $0.68-$2.75
Thursday's Volume: 99,000
Three-Month Average Volume: 107,808From a technical perspective, ROIAK trended higher here right above some near-term support at $2.48 and above its 50-day moving average at $2.35 with decent upside volume. This move is quickly pushing shares of ROIAK within range of triggering a major breakout trade. That trade will hit if ROIAK manages to take out some near-term overhead resistance levels at $2.74 to its 52-week high at $2.75 with high volume.
Traders should now look for long-biased trades in ROIAK as long as it's trending above support at $2.48 or above its 50-day at $2.35 and then once it sustains a move or close above those breakout levels with volume that hits near or above 107,808 shares. If that breakout triggers soon, then ROIAK will set up to enter new 52-week-high territory, which is bullish technical price action. Some possible upside targets off that move are $3.50 to $4.
- [By Roberto Pedone]
Radio One (ROIAK) is a multimedia company that primarily targets African-American and urban consumers. This stock closed up 5.8% to $2.35 in Thursday's trading session.
Thursday's Range: $2.21-$2.40
52-Week Range: $0.68-$2.66
Thursday's Volume: 258,000
Three-Month Average Volume: 112,595From a technical perspective, ROIAK ripped higher here back above its 50-day moving average of $2.27 with above-average volume. This stock recently formed a triple bottom chart pattern at $2.10, $2.11 and $2.07. Following that bottom, shares of ROIAK have started bounce sharply higher and move within range of triggering a major breakout trade. That trade will hit if ROIAK can manage to take out some near-term overhead resistance levels at $2.46 to its 52-week high at $2.66 with high volume.
Traders should now look for long-biased trades in ROIAK as long as it's trending above some near-term support levels at $2.10 to $2.07 and then once it sustains a move or close above those breakout levels with volume that hits near or above 112,595 shares. If that breakout triggers soon, then ROIAK will set up to enter new 52-week-high territory above $2.66, which is bullish technical price action. Some possible upside targets off that breakout are $3 to $4.
Best Performing Stocks To Invest In 2014: Jive Software Inc (JIVE)
Jive Software, Inc. (Jive), incorporated in February 2, 2001, provides a social business software platform. The Company is focused on unlocking the power of the enterprise social graph, which is the extended social network of an enterprise, encompassing relationships among its employees, customers and partners, as well as their interactions with people, content, and business information. The Company's customers use the Company's platform across broad business use cases, such as strategic alignment, that involve all employees, as well as functional use cases that improve the results of specific business activities such as sales execution or customer service. The Company sells its platform primarily through a direct sales force both domestically and internationally. As of December 31, 2012, the Company had 800 enterprise Jive Platform customers. In May 2013, Jive Software Inc acquired StreamOnce Inc.
The Company delivers a social business platform that features the innovation, creativity and ease of uses found in consumer applications combined with the security, flexibility and scalability necessary for enterprise deployment. The Company offers an enterprise-class social platform, purpose-built to enable its customers to manage workplace communication and collaboration. The Company's solution can be deployed across all employees, functional departments and business units. The Company's solution enables the Company's customers to operate both internal and external communities by offering a platform that allows communication and collaboration between and among employees, customers and partners. The Company's platform includes a recommendation engine that helps users connect to and easily locate relevant information and experts on an enterprise-wide basis across departmental and geographic boundaries, as well as across externally-facing customer and partner communities.
The Company's platform is capable of supporting deployments, including those with complex environments ! with tens of thousands of employees internally and millions of users externally. The Company provides tools to help its customers manage the critical elements of application security, including authentication, authorization and regulatory compliance. The Company enables customers to identify the impact of its platform on a particular business outcome. This includes identifying relevant user metrics, success rates and positive trends across the business. The Company's platform integrates with legacy IT infrastructure and a broad range of existing enterprise applications, including email, content management, customer relationship management, marketing automation, product development, eCommerce and instant messaging and enables access from mobile devices, browsers, desktop applications, collaboration applications and consumer social platforms.
The Company enables customers and third parties to develops applications that leverage its platform through its Jive Apps Market, built on the industry standard OpenSocial specifications. Users can easily find, purchase and install applications tailored to meet specific business needs in a variety of industries and business functions, enabling further innovation and functionality on the Company's platform. Developers can leverage the enterprise social graph to make applications more social and broaden their reach. The Company's platform has been developed to facilitate easy deployment with familiar interfaces. The Company offers its customers the ability to configure its solutions to deliver the specific functionality and user experience they want for their end-users, and the ability to modify the look and feel of its solutions to conform to their branding or other requirements. The Company's customers can use the Company's platform on demand through the public cloud, or via a private cloud. This flexible delivery model allows the Company to meet a variety of security and cost requirements and better address the needs of each customer, and enables the Co! mpany to ! target a wider range of potential customers.
The Company's flagship product, the Jive Platform, offers social business capabilities that enable employee, customer and partner engagement on a unified platform. The core platform can be expanded by adding optional modules, including Jive Present, Gamification, Ideation, Mobile, Video, and connectors into existing enterprise systems and applications. The Company's platform can also be extended to include cloud and customer-built applications through the Jive Apps Market. All of this activity and content is aggregated and presented to users via the Jive What Matters layer.
The Jive Platform serves two types of communities: Employees and Customers and partners. The Company's platform connects users across the enterprise and its functional departments, leveraging social intelligence, such as business relationships and areas of interest, to proactively provide relevant documents, discussions and other content to users. The Company's platform enables the Company's customers to build and manage external communities to build their brand, increase interaction and feedback, and reduce their support costs through enhanced online communication with their own customers and business partners.
The Jive Platform enables rich social profiles, visual enterprise directories, connections and identification. Users can easily find, follow and access both people and data through structured spaces, including public and private social groups and projects. This provides users with up to the minute access to relevant and critical information. The Company's platform enables blogging, microblogging, discussions, real time chat and video conversations and direct messaging and aggregates these familiar methods of social communications into a social inbox to allow users to find relevant information quickly and easily.
The Company's platform includes wikis, document sharing, an easy-to-use rich text editor, and full-fidelity rendering of Micros! oft Offic! e documents and PDFs with inline commenting, allowing users to collaborate real-time. The Company's platform enhances collaboration by allowing users to control access to content at the individual, group or document level. The Company's platform includes advanced search capabilities to locate relevant people, content and groups using information captured in the enterprise social graph, such as users' skills or profile information. The Company's platform can integrate with numerous enterprise systems such as customer relationship management, enterprise resource planning, software configuration management, or product lifecycle management systems, via the Company's application programming interfaces, or APIs.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Jonathan Morgan]
SAP AG (SAP) added 2.1 percent to 59.89 euros. The world�� largest maker of business-management software has ended discussions to acquire Jive Software Inc. (JIVE), which has a market value of more than $1 billion, people familiar with the matter said.
Best Performing Stocks To Invest In 2014: InterContinental Hotels Group PLC (IHG)
InterContinental Hotels Group PLC (IHG), incorporated on May 21, 2004, is a global hotel company, operating seven brands internationally. IHG is the holding company. The principal activities of the Company are in hotels and resorts, with franchising, management, ownership and leasehold interests in over 4,400 establishments, with more than 658,000 guest rooms in over 100 countries and territories worldwide. IHG�� hotels brands include InterContinental Hotels & Resorts, Crowne Plaza Hotels & Resorts, Hotel Indigo, Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn Club Vacations, Holiday Inn Express, Staybridge Suites, Candlewood Suites and Priority Club Rewards. It has four geographical segments: Americas, Europe, Asia, Middle East and Africa (AMEA), and Greater China. As of December 31, 2011, the pipeline totalled 1,144 hotels (180,484 rooms). In March 2012, the Company announced the launch of HUALUXE Hotels and Resorts in China. During the year ended 31 December 2011, it sold four hotels, three in the Americas region and one in the AMEA region. IHG also manages the hotel loyalty program, Priority Club Rewards. As of December 31, 2011, the Company has 3,832 hotels operate under franchise agreements; managed 637 hotels worldwide and owned 11 hotels. During 2011, the Company opened 241hotels (44,265rooms) and removed 98 hotels (33,078 rooms). IHG is focused on the three segments that together generate over 90% of branded hotel revenues: midscale (broadly 3-star hotels), upscale (4-star), and luxury (5-star). InterContinental Hotels & Resorts InterContinental Hotels & Resorts is IHG�� 5-star brand located in cities and resort destinations across more than 60 countries worldwide. Hotels under InterContinental Hotels & Resorts brand are principally managed by the Company. As of December 31, 2011, there were 169 hotels and 57,598 rooms. As of December 31, 2011, it had 51 hotels in development pipeline. Crowne Plaza Hotels & Resorts Crowne Plaza Hotels & Resorts is the IHG�� upscale 4-star segment, specializes in offering modern business and meeting facilities with a service style to provide productive and energising experiences to guests. The majority of hotels under Crowne Plaza Hotels & Resorts brand are principally operated under franchise agreements in the United States and Europe, and are managed by the Company. As of December 31, 2011, there were 387 hotels and 105,104 rooms. As of December 31, 2011, it had 108 hotels in development pipeline. Hotel Indigo Hotel Indigo provides guests with the refreshing design and service experience with a boutique hotel. The Hotels Indigo brand is principally operated under franchise agreements. As of December 31, 2011, there were 39 hotels and 4,564 rooms. As of December 31, 2011, it had 59 hotels in development pipeline Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn Club Vacations The Holiday Inn brand family consists of Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express and Holiday Inn Club Vacations. Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn Club Vacations is the midscale hotel brand. Focused on creating an atmosphere where guests can relax, the brand is designed to support both business and leisure travellers. The brand family operates under franchise agreements. As of December 31, 2011, there were 1,240 hotels and 228,256 rooms. As of December 31, 2011, it had 267 hotels in development pipeline. Holiday Inn Express Holiday Inn Express offers convenience and comfort. As of December 31, 2011, there were 2,114 hotels and 196,666 rooms. As of December 31, 2011, it had 470 hotels in development pipeline. Staybridge Suites Staybridge Suites is the Company�� upscale extended stay brand for guests on longer trips, offering studios and suites complete with full kitchens and separate sleeping and work areas in a sociable, family-like atmosphere. Properties under Staybridge Suites brand are operated under a mixture of franchise and management agreements. As of December 31, 2011, there were 179 hotels and 19,567 rooms. As of December 31, 2011, it had 95 hotels in development pipeline. Candlewood Suites Candlewood Suites is the Company�� midscale extended stay brand that gives its guests all the essentials they need for a home-like stay. Properties under Candlewood Suites brand are principally operated under franchise agreements. As of December 31, 2011, there were 285 hotels and 27,500 rooms. As of December 31, 2011, it had 94 hotels in development pipeline. The Company competes with Accor, Choice Hotels International, Inc., Hilton Hotels Corporation, Hyatt, Marriott, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. and Wyndham Worldwide Corporation. Advisors' Opinion:- [By Reuters] ATLANTA -- A credit card data breach has been detected that exposed guests at certain Marriott, Holiday Inn, Sheraton and other hotel properties to theft, hotel management firm White Lodging Services said Monday. The breach occurred at food and beverage outlets at 14 hotels, including some operated under the Westin, Renaissance and Radisson names, between March 20 and Dec. 16 last year, White Lodging said in a statement. The company said information subject to potential theft by cybercriminals included names and numbers on consumers' debit or credit cards, security codes and card expiration dates. Customers who used their cards at the affected outlets should review all statements from the time in question and consider placing fraud alerts on their credit files, White Lodging said. White Lodging wouldn't estimate how many card numbers might have been taken. Krebs on Security, the cybersecurity blog that first reported the breach Friday, said thousands of accounts had been compromised. The latest data breach comes after the FBI warned retailers last month to prepare for more cyber attacks after discovering about 20 hacking cases in the past year involving the same kind of malicious software used against Target (TGT) over the holiday shopping season. The incident involving Target, the No. 3 U.S. retailer, was one of the biggest retail cyber attacks in history. In a confidential, three-page report to retail companies the FBI described the risks posed by "memory-parsing" malware that infects point-of-sale systems, which include cash registers and credit-card swiping machines in checkout aisles. Restaurants and lounges affected by the White Lodging breach were at hotels in Chicago; Austin, Texas; Richmond, Va.; Plantation, Fla.; Denver; Boulder and Broomfield, Colo.; Louisville, Ky.; Erie, Pa.; Indianapolis; and Merrillville, Ind., the company said. White Lodging, which manages 169 hotels that include brands of Marriott International (MAR), Starwood
- [By Tony Reading]
In this series, I'm assessing the boardrooms of companies within the FTSE 100 (UKX). I hope to separate the management teams that are worth following from those that are not. Today, I am looking at�InterContinental Hotels� (LSE: IHG ) (NYSE: IHG ) , the world's largest listed hotels group.
- [By WWW.DAILYFINANCE.COM]
Guests want this because it makes their lives simpler. The ability to go right to your room, gives them back time.
Hilton Worldwide (H) is the only other hotel chain to publicly acknowledge plans for mobile room keys -- which it plans to roll out at the end of 2015 at some U.S. properties. Hilton won't say how many hotels will be included, except that the service will be available at four of its brands, Hilton, Waldorf Astoria, Conrad and Canopy. "Guests want this because it makes their lives simpler," says Mark Vondrasek, who oversees the loyalty program and digital initiatives for Starwood. "The ability to go right to your room, gives them back time." Other hotel companies are finding other ways to streamline the arrival process. Marriott International (MAR) launched the ability to check in through its app at 330 North American hotels last year. By the end of this year, the program will be live at all 4,000 hotels worldwide. When a room becomes available, a message is sent to the guest's phone. Traditional room keys are pre-programmed and waiting at the front desk. A special express line allows guests to bypass crowds, flash their IDs and get keys. At Hilton, all 4,000 properties worldwide will have a similar check-in by the end of the year. The one added feature: Guests can use maps on the app to select a specific room. InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) is testing express check-in at 60 hotels. Not About Cutting Jobs The services are geared toward road warriors who don't want to slow down, even for a second. Guests who like personal interaction can still opt for a more leisurely check-in, and hotel companies say the move isn't about cutting jobs. "If you're at the end of a long day, you might want a little less of a chatty experience. But if you're showing up at a new resort, you may want to know what the pool hours are," says Brett Cowell, vice president of information technology for Hyatt, which is testing permanent keys for frequent guests - [By Patricio Kehoe] �s largest hotel owner, franchiser and manager, with over 4,500 hotels in 100 countries. But let�� see what really makes this company a solid long-term investment.
A Majority Franchised System
This company is known for its famous midscale brands Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn Express, as well as the upscale hotels InterContinental and Crowne Plaza. The interesting factor, however, is the high rate of franchised and managed hotels among these brands, compared to industry rivals Hyatt Hotels Corporation (H) or Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. (HOT). With more than 99% franchised or managed hotels in the InterContinental system, this company profits from excessive operating margins of 33.2% (the industry average is 8.70%) and minimal capital expenditures.
Additionally, the typical 10 to 30-year contracts for hotel franchises create high switching costs for property owners, while simultaneously generating high returns on invested capital. Since 2010, for example, InterContinental has averaged a 29% return on capital, and currently reports a 57.8% return, all due to the firm�� asset-light strategy of selling owned hotels and converting them to management or franchising contracts. The latest transaction of the InterContinental New York Barclay, for example, sold at $300 million, was a well strung deal for the company, which will maintain a 20% ownership in the property, as well as manage the hotel for the next 30 years. This transaction is bound to boost free cash flow, as well as revenue growth, which has been somewhat stagnant throughout fiscal 2013 (4.0%).
International Advantage
One of InterContinental�� key growth segments is its international business. Since 1984, this company has been taking advantage of the underpenetrated Chinese market, and today this hotel operator holds the best infrastructure to grow and expand its brand presence in the country. With an estimated 50,000 rooms in its new Chinese hotel
Best Performing Stocks To Invest In 2014: Basf SE (BASFY.PK)
BASF SE is a chemical company. The Company operates in six segments: Chemicals, Plastics, Performance Products, Functional Solutions, Agricultural Solutions and Oil & Gas. Chemicals segment offers products in the chemical, electronic, construction, textile, automotive, pharmaceutical and agricultural industries. Plastics segment offers a range of products, system solutions and services. Performance Products help its customers to improve their products and processes. Functional Solutions segment bundles system solutions and products for customers and industries. The Company�� Agricultural Solutions segment includes crop protection products, which guard against fungal diseases, insects and weeds. Its Oil & gas segment is a producer of oil and gas. On April 9, 2009, the Company acquired Ciba Holding AG. In April 2010, Intertek Group plc acquired the Regulatory and Safety Testing businesses of Ciba Expert Services (Ciba ES) from the Company. In December 2010, the Company completed its acquisition of Cognis Holding GmbH from Cognis Holding Luxembourg S.a r.l.
Chemicals
The Company�� Chemicals segment portfolio ranges from basic chemicals, glues and electronic chemicals for the semiconductor and flat panel display industry, to solvents and plasticizers, as well as starting materials for detergents, plastics, textile fibers, paints, coatings and pharmaceuticals. This segment is organized into three divisions: Inorganics, Petrochemicals and Intermediates. The important basic products of the Inorganics division are ammonia, methanol, sodium hydroxide, chlorine, as well as sulfuric and nitric acid. The Petrochemicals division produces products, such as ethylene, propylene, butadiene and benzene, which are produced in steam crackers from naphtha or natural gas. In further processing stages, it produces alcohols, solvents and plasticizers for the chemicals and plastics industries. BASF SE�� Intermediates division develops, produces and markets a range of intermediates of all produc! ers worldwide. The product lines include amines, diols, polyalcohols, acids and specialties. They serve as starting materials for products, such as coatings, plastics, pharmaceuticals, textile fibers, crop protection products, as well as detergents and cleaners.
Plastics
BASF�� Plastics segment is organized into two divisions: Performance Polymers and Polyurethanes. The Performance Polymers division is a supplier of engineering plastics, polyamides and polyamide intermediates, foams and specialty plastics. The Company offers its customers a portfolio of engineering plastics based on polyamide 6 and polyamide 6,6. This is complemented by products Ultradur, Ultraform and Ultrason. For the packaging, textile and food industries, it offers Ultramid, a base product for the manufacturing of fibers and foils. BASF SE�� product range also includes Ecoflex and Ecovio, biodegradable specialty plastics for the packaging industry. Styropor and its refinement Neopor are styrene-based precursors for foams used in insulating material for construction and packaging. The Polyurethanes division is a supplier of basic products, systems and specialties. The Company offers polyurethane products for numerous customer applications. Under brand names, such as Elastoflex and Elastopor, polyurethanes are used, as rigid or flexible foams in construction for furniture and household appliances.
Performance Products
The Performance Products segment consists of the Acrylics & Dispersions, Care Chemicals and Performance Chemicals divisions. Acrylics & Dispersions produces acrylic acid, as well as its derivatives superabsorbents and polymer dispersions. Superabsorbents are used particularly in diapers. Polymer dispersions are used in the production of glues, coatings, nonwoven materials and construction chemicals. The Company�� product portfolio for the paper industry consists of binders, process chemicals and kaolin pigments. Its Care Chemicals portfolio consists of products f! or cleani! ng, care, cosmetics and hygiene. Performance Chemicals pools specialties for various customer industries. The product portfolio consists of antioxidants, pigments, light stabilizers and specialty additives. The division also makes chemicals for the production and finishing of leather and textiles.
Functional Solutions
The Functional Solutions segment consists of the Catalysts, Construction Chemicals and Coatings divisions. The Catalysts division develops catalysts and adsorbents. It produces catalysts that transform pollutants in the exhaust flows of vehicles into harmless chemical and plastics. The Construction Chemicals division is engaged in development of concrete admixtures, such as concrete plasticizers, deferrers and curing agents. It also produces and markets construction systems. The Coatings division is a provider of coatings solutions for automotive and industrial applications. Its brands Glasurit and R-M are for the car refinish business.
Agricultural Solutions
The Agricultural Solutions segment consists of the Crop Protection division. The Company develops and produces active ingredients and formulations for the improvement of crop health and yields, and markets them worldwide. Its portfolio includes fungicides, insecticides, herbicides and seed treatments. Its product Headline contains the active ingredient F500, which is not only used for corn and soybean, but also for numerous other crops.
Oil & Gas
BASF�� oil and gas activities are bundled in the Wintershall Group. Wintershall and its subsidiaries operate in the business sectors exploration and production, and natural gas trading. In the exploration and production of oil and natural gas, the Company focuses on oil and gas regions in Europe, North Africa and South America, as well as Russia and the Caspian Sea region. The Mittelplate oil field in the North Sea tidal flats is the cornerstone of the Company�� oil production in Germany. Wintershall and RWE-D! EA each h! old a 50% interest in this field. During the year ended December 31, 2009, it acquired 25% interest in Cuxhaven concession. It operates 26 offshore platforms in Mittelplate region, of which 19 are actually controlled. In Libya, Wintershall operates eight onshore oil fields in the concessions 96 and 97 and exploits the associated gas released during crude oil production in a gas utilization plant for the local demand. In Mauritania, it operates two onshore exploration blocks. In 2008, Wintershall acquired stakes of 50% each in two exploration areas in the Canadon Asfalto Basin. It supplies Germany and several other European countries. The gas pipeline network operated by WINGAS TRANSPORT connects the markets in Western Europe with a natural gas infrastructure that runs through Eastern Europe and the Russian Federation all the way to the gas fields in Siberia. Other components portfolio include natural gas storage facility in Western Europe, in Rehdn, Germany, and the natural gas storage facility in Haidach, Austria.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Markus Aarnio]
BioAmber expects its advanced bio-based specialty chemicals to compete with petrochemical equivalents that are proven in the market and manufactured by established companies, such as Gadiv Petrochemical Industries, Kawasaki Kasei, DSM (RDSMY.PK) and numerous small Chinese producers including Anqing Hexing Chemical, and Anhui Sunsing Chemicals. In addition, BioAmber's products will compete against other companies in the bio-based specialty chemical industry, both early stage companies, such as Genomatica (for bio-based 1,4 BDO) and Myriant Corporation (for bio-succinic acid), and established companies, such as a collaborative venture between DSM and Roquette Frères S.A. and a collaborative venture between BASF (BASFY.PK) and Purac (both for bio-succinic acid).
