U.S natural gas production is at a record high. Why, then, are your heating bills surging? 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
This week, I describe the source of information I use for keeping up with the important financial news of the day. Read More
Biden recently announced a student loan debt forgiveness plan, but it does nothing to address the underlying factors that caused the debt. Read More
Nuclear power has been flat for a decade, but the world will require more of this energy source to sharply cut carbon emissions. Read More
Last week the meme traders struck again with Bed, Bath, and Beyond. Here's how I profited from the stock's movement, and how you can, too. Read More
Last week Congress passed a substantial bill aimed at reducing inflation. Here are the major energy provisions in the bill. Read More
Last year an IRS agent wrote to tell me that the conventional wisdom on MLP tax treatment is all wrong. I share what he told me. Read More
Water stocks have performed well in the past, and given the world's freshwater dilemma, promise good returns in the future. Read More
This week, I take a look at some of the highest-yielding Dividend Aristocrats. These all-weather income generators belong in any portfolio. Read More
If you don't have a financial plan for your family that considers potential tragedies, you need to develop one immediately. Read More