US energy major’s profits will rise as crude soars

Brent crude has soared 25% since late June. That’s good news for America’s fourth biggest oil and gas producer, says Paul Hill.

Brent crude has soared 25% since late June due to escalating tensions in the Middle East, lower US inventories and some comforting rhetoric from the European Central Bank that has temporarily eased debt worries across Europe. Add in the possibility of an Israeli air strike on Iran's nuclear facilities and oil prices are unlikely to drop near term. That's good news for Apache, America's fourth biggest oil and gas producer.

So why have the shares fallen 20% since March? Investors are nervous about the firm's exposure to Egypt, which accounts for a fifth of production. However, any such fears should be mitigated by Egypt's new government, which is welcoming foreign investment with open arms.

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Paul gained a degree in electrical engineering and went on to qualify as a chartered management accountant. He has extensive corporate finance and investment experience and is a member of the Securities Institute.

Over the past 16 years Paul has held top-level financial management and M&A roles for blue-chip companies such as O2, GKN and Unilever. He is now director of his own capital investment and consultancy firm, PMH Capital Limited.

Paul is an expert at analysing companies in new, fast-growing markets, and is an extremely shrewd stock-picker.