The increasingly domestically focused driller looks set for a strong 2014, as do Ensco and Cimarex. Read More
It's hard to imagine anyone better suited to covering the energy-investment waterfront than Robert Rapier.
Robert is no armchair analyst—he has two decades of in-the-trenches experience in a wide range of fossil fuel and biofuel technologies, including refining, natural gas production, gas-to-liquids, ethanol production and butanol production.
During a six-year stretch at ConocoPhillips, Robert ran a team of engineers in Scotland working on oil and gas projects in the North Sea.
For two years, Robert was an efficiency expert in a Texas petrochemical plant. The process changes he implemented saved the facility $9 million a year. He later worked as the Engineering Director for a Dutch environmental-technology company and provided engineering support for a Chinese facility the company was constructing.
Robert was also a butanol engineer in Germany for the Celanese Corporation, where he designed a novel butanol unit that cut production costs by $5 million per year.
In all, Robert has spent more than a dozen years working on liquid fuels technologies. Along the way he's picked up five patents, including one for a breakthrough way to convert ethane into ethylene (U.S. Patent 7,074,977).
Now, in addition to guiding readers to timely investments in Utility Forecaster and Rapier's Income Accelerator, Robert travels the world evaluating startup energy companies for deep-pocketed investors. After grilling management and assessing the technology on-site, he makes a go/no-go investment decision. His wealthy private investors and hedge fund backers trust him to make the right choice for the same reason we do: his vast real-world experience in just about every facet of the energy industry. If Robert votes thumbs-up, millions of dollars flow into these cutting-edge outfits.
Robert earned his master of science in chemical engineering and a bachelor of science in chemistry and mathematics (double major) at Texas A&M University. He tells us he was "this close" to finishing his Ph.D. before he decided he was having a lot more fun making money in energy stocks.
A prolific writer, Robert's articles have appeared in Forbes, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post and the Christian Science Monitor -- and he has been a featured expert on 60 Minutes and The History Channel. His new book, Power Plays: Energy Options in the Age of Peak Oil (Apress, 2012), helps investors sort through doom and gloom, hype and misinformation to understand the true costs, benefits and trade-offs for each of our major energy options.
In what little spare time he has left, Robert consults for a number of energy projects, including biodiesel, ethanol, butanol and biomass gasification facilities.
Analyst Articles
2013 was a landmark year for domestic oil drilling and a tough one for coal and biofuels. Read More
Relatively stable commodity prices in 2014 should favor the industry leaders with proven track records. Read More
The annual portfolio review highlights the past year’s many coups and the inevitable miss or two. Read More
Our portfolio picks handily outperformed the energy rally in 2013, and we found other ways to build value. Plus: the top stories of 2013, a preview of 2014 and Robert’s takes on Apache and Ensco. Read More
For global investors wary of inflation, the US labor market will loom large as a key indicator to watch. Read More
For global investors wary of inflation, the US labor market will loom large as a key indicator to watch. Read More
The new Australian government's ad-hoc approach to approving deals involving foreign firms has created considerable uncertainty. Read More
Canada's National Energy Board has recommended that the country's federal government approve the Northern Gateway Pipeline. Read More
Despite lingering challenges, the stage is set in emerging markets for a profitable 2014. Read More