10 Best Oil Service Stocks To Invest In Right Now

10 Best Oil Service Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Laclede Group Inc (LG)

The Laclede Group, Inc. (Laclede Group), incorporated on October 18, 2000, is a utility holding company. The Company operates in two segments: Regulated Gas Utility and Gas Marketing. The Gas Utility segment includes the regulated operations of Laclede Gas Company (Laclede Gas or the Utility), Laclede Group's subsidiary and core business unit. Laclede Gas is a public utility engaged in the retail distribution and sale of natural gas. Laclede Gas is the natural gas distribution utility in Missouri, serving more than 1.13 million residential, commercial, and industrial customers. The Gas Marketing segment includes Laclede Energy Resources, Inc. (LER), a wholly owned subsidiary is engaged in the marketing of natural gas and related activities on a non-regulated basis. Effective September1, 2013, Laclede Group Inc through its newly formed subsidiary acquired Missouri Gas Energy, a provider of natural gas distribution services.

Gas Utility

The Utility focuses its gas supply portfolio around a number of natural gas suppliers with equity ownership or control of assets strategically situated to complement its regionally diverse firm transportation arrangements. During fiscal year ended September 30, 2013 (fiscal 2013), the Utility purchased natural gas from 35 different suppliers to meet current gas sales and storage injection requirements. Natural gas purchased by the Laclede Gas for delivery to its service area through the Enable Mississippi River Transmission LLC (MRT) system totaled 55.0 billion cubic feet (Bcf). Laclede Gase also holds firm transportation on several other interstate pipeline systems that provide access to gas supplies upstream of MRT. In addition to deliveries from MRT, 8.6 Bcf of gas was purchased on MO Gas, 13.4 Bcf on the Southern Star Central Gas Pipeline, Inc. (Southern Star Central), 0.03 Bcf on the Panhandle Eastern Pipe Line Company system, and 0.1 BCF on the Postrock s! ystem. Some of the Utility s commercial and industrial customers purchased their own! gas with the Utility transporting 17.0 Bcf to them through the Utilitys distribution system.

The Utility has a contractual right to store 23.1 Bcf of gas in MRTs storage facility located in Unionville, Louisiana, 16.3 Bcf of gas storage in Southern Star Central system storage facilities located in Kansas and Oklahoma, and 1.4 Bcf of firm storage on Panhandle Eastern Pipe Line Companys system storage. In addition, the Utility supplements flowing pipeline gas with natural gas withdrawn from its own underground storage field located in St. Louis and St. Charles Counties in Missouri.

Gas Marketing

LER is engaged in the marketing of natural gas and providing energy services to both on-system utility transportation customers and customers outside of the Utilitys traditional service area. During fiscal year 2013, LER utilized 12 interstate pipelines and 93 suppliers to market natural gas to its customers primarily in the Midwest. LER served more than 205 retail customers and 100 wholesale customers. Through its retail operations, LER offers natural gas marketing services to large industrial customers, while its wholesale business consists of buying and selling natural gas to other marketers, producers, utilities, power generators, pipelines, and municipalities. LER also serves power plants that use natural gas to generate electricity.

OTHER

Laclede Pipeline Company, a wholly owned subsidiary, operates a propane pipeline under Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) jurisdiction. This pipeline connects the propane storage and vaporization facilities of the Utility to third-party propane supply terminal facilities located in Illinois, which allows the Utility to receive propane that is vaporized to supplement its natural gas supply and meet peak demands on its distribution system. Laclede Pipeline Company also provides transportation services to third pa! rties. Ot! her also includes Laclede Groups subsidiaries that are engaged in,! among ot! her activities, oil production, real estate development, compression of natural gas, and financial investments in other enterprises. These operations are conducted through seven subsidiaries.

The Other category also includes the Utilitys non-regulated propane services business which involves providing propane-related services and storage to third parties and its affiliate, Laclede Pipeline Company. Beginning July 1, 2013, propane-related services are included within Gas Utility operations pursuant to the Utility's new rate case.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Laura Brodbeck]

  Earnings Releases Expected:Nuance Communications, New Jersey Resources Corporation (NYSE: NJR), Laclede Group, Inc. (NYSE: LG)

  Economic Releases Expected:U.S. pending home sales, Italian trade balance, Swiss employment level

• [By Ahmed A. Namatalla]

  Egypts biggest publicly traded company agreed to pay about 7 billion Egyptian pounds ($1 billion) over five years to settle the tax dispute on the sale of its cement unit to Lafarge SA (LG) in 2007, Amsterdam-based parent OCI NV said yesterday. The payments will start in May and end in 2017. OCI NV shares had the biggest increase since the companys Dutch public offering in January.

• [By IBTimes]

  Getty Images Not all smartphones that receive high ratings from expert reviewers end up being popular, according to an analysis of ratings data from FindTheBest. The report analyzed the ratings that expert reviewers gave smartphone models and compared them to consumers' ratings of the same. It found that some phones that get very high ratings from expert reviewers don't get the same glowing reviews from users. For example, expert reviewers thought the Samsung Galaxy Stratosphere II was a fantastic phone. It received a rating of 88 out of 100 on FindTheBest, a website that aggregates and analyzes ratings from tech re! view site! s. However, smartphone users gave the phone a rating of 2.5 out of 5. The reverse held true in some cases. Although expert reviewers gave the LG Optimus Elite (LG) a low rating -- 48 out of 100 -- the same phone got an average rating of 4 out of 5 from users. Here's a scatterplot of a variety of smartphones, as rated by both expert ("smart") reviewers and users: (Click on the chart to view a larger version.)

source from Top Stocks To Buy For 2015:http://www.topstocksforum.com/10-best-oil-service-stocks-to-invest-in-right-now.html