WTI $93.96 -21c, Brent $107.09 -4c, Differential $13.13 +17c, NG $4.38 +6c

As quiet as can be after the Brent contract rolled over and a bit of modest selling in WTI. Natural gas saw some buying as the cold weather from last week transmitted into a huge draw in natural gas stocks.

Shell -BvB call that a profit warning?

I have already commented on the Shell warning this morning and the market has been, as I suggested, unimpressed by the new CEO’s attempt to ‘kitchen sink’ the numbers and the stock has already recovered half of the initial 4.5% fall, you never know it might be up on the day! Check out the website if you didn’t see the flash blog. www.malcysblog.com

BP -Buy back watch

As we keep an eye on the buy back programme we see that the Group Treasurer is being relentless with most days seeing around 7.4m shares purchased. So far this month the company has bought back 80.42m shares at an average price of around 490p each so nearly £400 spent so far this year.

Schlumberger

4th quarter figures from SLB beat the whisper this morning coming in at $1.35 a share 2 cents better than consensus. The dividend had been announced as up 28% and net increase in earnings was 22%. The international segment was the star of the show and there was a ‘resilient’ performance in North America. Margins stayed at 22.2% internationally and 19.7% at home. The shares were up modestly in pre-market trading and I remain convinced that the major US service companies are very well placed in this market.

Nighthawk

Results today from the Jackson Hole 1-32 exploration well, and whilst there were no words such as ‘dry’ and ‘hole’ in the announcement, merely the comment that the information provided will be useful in future etc. gives the game away, p&a.

Victoria Oil & Gas

VOG has announced a combined loan and customs bond in Cameroon raising $10m in total which will fund a near-term scheme providing customer connection as well as the customs bond for Gensets. The rate is 7.25% and is provided by BGFI Bank of Cameroon to the company. This will appease investors concern on both fronts and VOG is now looking that much more confident.

And finally…

To add to the tag of being totally incompetent, England’s cricketers can now add being able to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory in Australia this morning. having set a target of 300 and cruising with time running out for the aussies the victory was gift wrapped by awful captaincy and rubbish bowling at the death.

In football the stand out fixture at the weekend is the visit of Man who to fortress Stamford Bridge, if it wasn’t already, this Sunday could signal the expression ‘for you ze season is over’. I see that Anderson is on his way to Fiorentina to play a blinding game or two for them in the next 50 he plays…

And in a fantastic weekend for American football…

Sunday night sees the Conference Championship games in the NFL. In the NFC, San Francisco travel to Seattle in what should be a hard fought game. No love lost there.

In the AFC Final, the Denver Broncos host the New England Patriots. Another tight game in which two of the best quarterbacks in the league will compete.

Enjoy the weekend.