Top 5 Gas Companies To Invest In 2015

Medical device maker Techne (NASDAQ: TECH  ) announced today that it's taking a 100% ownership stake in�Bionostics Holdings for $104 million cash.

Headquartered in�Devens, Mass.,�Bionostics makes proprietary quality control devices for diagnostic testing equipment and has�strategic supply relationships with virtually all global in vitro diagnostic-device OEMs.�Controls for blood glucose and blood gas devices are the largest portion of Bionostics' business, which generated�approximately�$29.3 million in revenues�for fiscal year 2012 that ended last Aug. 31.

Techne President and CEO�Charles R. Kummeth said: "The addition of Bionostics adds capabilities in exciting new areas like coagulation and expands our controls portfolio, giving us the critical mass we need to remain competitive and offer our customers continued value and options to serve their needs."

The acquisition is expected to be slightly accretive to Techne's fiscal year 2014 net earnings, even though there will be acquisition accounting charges related to the step-up in basis for acquired inventories and the amortization of intangibles. Since there are possible adjustments to the final price paid based on working capital available at the closing of the transaction, Techne said it couldn't�assess the final impact the deal will have on its first-quarter earnings per share or those for the entire fiscal year.

Top 5 Gas Companies To Invest In 2015: Renewable Energy Group Inc (REGI)

Renewable Energy Group, Inc., incorporated in August 2006, is a producer of biodiesel in the United States. The Company is engaged in each aspect of biodiesel production, from acquiring feedstock, managing construction and operating biodiesel production facilities to marketing, selling and distributing biodiesel and its co-products. During the year ended December 31, 2011, the Company sold approximately 150 million gallons of biodiesel. As of December 31, 2011, the Company operated a network of six biodiesel plants, with an aggregate production capacity of 212 million gallons per year. On July 12, 2011, the Company acquired SoyMor Biodiesel, LLC (SoyMor), which has 30 million gallons per year biodiesel production facility in Albert Lea, Minnesota. In January 2012, it exercised its option to purchase the 60 million gallons per year facility in Seneca, Illinois, which it operated under a lease. In August 2013, the Company acquired biodiesel plant in Mason City, Iowa. In January 2014, Renewable Energy Group Inc acquired renewable chemical technology developer LS9, Inc.

The Company produces its biodiesel from a range of feedstocks, including inedible animal fat, used cooking oil and inedible corn oil. It also produces a smaller portion of its biodiesel from virgin vegetable oils. It owns biodiesel production facilities with capacities consisting of 12 million gallons per year facility in Ralston, Iowa; 35 million gallons per year facility near Houston, Texas, or the Houston facility; 45 million gallons per year facility in Danville, Illinois, and 30 million gallons per year facility in Newton, Iowa.

The Company competes with Archer Daniels Midland Company, Cargill, Incorporated, Louis Dreyfus Commodities Group, Ag Processing Inc., Mansfield, Astra, Gavilon, Tenaska, ED&F Man, Dynamic Fuels, LLC, Syntroleum Corporation, Tyson Foods, Inc., Diamond Green Diesel, LLC and Darling International.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Travis Hoium]

  What: Shares of biodiesel maker Renewable Energy Group (NASDAQ: REGI  ) jumped 15% today after the company reported earnings.

  So what: The company sold 39 million gallons of biodiesel during the quarter, up 14% from a year ago, and net income rose from $14 million, to $46 million. On a per share basis earnings were $1.25 versus an expectation of $0.51 from Wall Street.�

• [By Nickey Friedman]

  Other biofuel companies
  Unlike KiOR, Renewable Energy Group (NASDAQ: REGI  ) and Green Plains Renewable Energy (NASDAQ: GPRE  ) are ending the year with stock prices at more than double where they started it due to their excellent operational performance. For example, last quarter Renewable Energy Group reported revenue leaped 42% to $458.4 million. Net income had a dramatic turnaround, from a loss of $6.9 million to positive $78.5 million or $2.31 per share, though $42.1 million of that was an IRS tax benefit. Analysts expect Renewable Energy Group to report positive EPS of $1.66 next year while KiOR is expected to lose nearly a buck per share.

• [By Maxx Chatsko]

  When it comes to the highly charged biodiesel industry, one company stands above the rest. Way above. Renewable Energy Group (NASDAQ: REGI  ) is not only the leader in terms of pure production capacity, but it also displays plenty of desirables that should be on every investor's radar. What makes the company so great? It is no secret. In particular, REG has focused on three areas to become the top biodiesel stock.

Top 5 Gas Companies To Invest In 2015: Athabasca Oil Corp (ATHOF.PK)

Athabasca Oil Corporation, formerly Athabasca Oil Sands Corp., is focused on the exploration and development of unconventional oil resource plays in Alberta, Canada. The Company is organized into two divisions: thermal oil and light oil. Thermal oil includes the Company�� assets, liabilities and operating results for the exploration, development and production of bitumen from sand and carbonate rock formations located in the Athabasca region of Northern Alberta. Light oil includes the Company�� assets, liabilities and operating results for the exploration, development and production of unconventional oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids located in various regions in the province of Alberta. Athabasca has accumulated more than 1.5 million (net) acres of oil sands leases in the Athabasca area of northern Alberta. The Company�� oil sands projects are Hangingstone (100%), Dover West Sands (100%), Dover West Carbonates (100%), Dover (40%), Birch (100%) and Grosmont (50%). Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Stephan Dube]

  Athabasca's most notable producers:

  Suncor Energy (SU) (Part 1), see article here.Suncor Energy (Part 2), see article here.Athabasca Oil (ATHOF.PK), see article here.Canadian Natural Resources, see article here.Imperial Oil, see article here.Cenovus Energy (CVE), see article here.MEG Energy (MEGEF.PK), see article here.Devon Energy, see article here.Royal Dutch Shell, see article here.Ivanhoe Energy (IVAN), see article here.Nexen (CNOOC) (CEO), see article here.

  An analysis of the current operations of the company will be examined with the objective to provide the most complete information available to potential investors before deciding to seize the opportunity that the 54,132 square miles of the Carbonate Triangle has to offer. Let's start by introducing Athabasca, a famous and most prolific region in the Canadian oil sands as well as one of the largest reserve in the world.

Top 5 Information Technology Stocks To Invest In 2015: Ivanhoe Energy Inc (IVAN)

Ivanhoe Energy Inc. (Ivanhoe), incorporated on February 21, 1995, is an independent international heavy oil development and production company. Ivanhoe�� core operations are in Canada, Ecuador, China and Mongolia, with business development opportunities worldwide. Ivanhoe�� wholly owned subsidiary, Sunwing Energy Ltd. (Sunwing) is focused on a natural gas exploration project (the Zitong Block) in Sichuan Province of China. The Sichuan Basin is located in central China approximately 930 miles southwest of Beijing. Its oil and gas operations are located in three geographic areas: Asia, Canada and Ecuador. In December 2012, the Company had closed the Share Purchase and Sale Agreement with MIE Holdings Corporation for all of the interest of its indirect, wholly owned subsidiary, Pan-China Resources Ltd.

Asia

In China, Sunwing operates the 659,840-acre (1,031-square-miles) Zitong gas exploration block in the Sichuan Province, and it holds a 90% Contractor Interest in a Petroleum Contract with PetroChina Company Limited. Mitsubishi Gas Chemical Company of Japan holds the remaining 10% Contractor Interest. Sunwing produces approximately 1,800 (gross) barrels of light oil per day in Dagang, in China's Hebei province, in a production sharing agreement with Petrochina in which Sunwing is the operator and maintains a royalty interest in the revenue stream from its first project carried out in the Daqing Oil Field. In November 2002, the Company entered into a 30 year production sharing contract (PSC) with China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) for the Zitong block, which covers an area of approximately 248,000 gross acres after contractual relinquishments in the Sichuan basin.

During the year ended December 31, 2006, the Company farmed out 10% of its working interest in the Zitong block to Mitsubishi Gas Chemical Company Inc. of Japan. In Phase I of the contract, Ivanhoe reprocessed 1,649 miles of two dimensional (2D) seismic data and acquired 705 miles of new 2D s! eismic data. In Phase II of the contract, the Yixin-2 and Zitong-1 gas wells were drilled during the year ended December 31, 2010, and completed during the year ended December 31, 2011. Ivanhoe�� oil production originates in the Kongnan oilfield in Dagang, Hebei Province, China (the Dagang field). In 2011, production in averaged 967 barrels per day net. The Company�� Nyalga Block XVI is in the Khenti and Tov provinces in Mongolia. The block covers an area of approximately 3.1 million gross acres, after a 25% relinquishment in 2010.

Canada

Ivanhoe holds a 100% working interest in the Tamarack Project, subject only to a 20% back-in right held by Talisman Energy. Tamarack is a 6,880 acre lease located approximately 10 miles northeast of Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada. The Tamarack integrated oil sands project (Tamarack Project) consists of a two-phased 40,000 bbl/d steam-assisted gravity drainage thermal recovery (SAGD) and HTL facility.

Ecuador

The Company's activities in Latin America are carried out under its wholly owned subsidiary, Ivanhoe Energy Latin America Inc. Ivanhoe Energy Ecuador Inc., a Canadian company is a wholly owned subsidiary of Ivanhoe Energy Latin America Inc. and is responsible for the Company's activities in Ecuador. In October 2008, Ivanhoe Energy Ecuador Inc. had signed a 30 year contract with the Ecuador state oil companies Petroecuador and Petroproduccion. The contract gives Ivanhoe the right to explore and develop the Pungarayacu heavy oil field in Block 20, an area of 426 square miles, approximately 125 miles southeast of Quito, Ecuador�� capital city. Block 20 is an area of approximately 426-square-miles (1,103.34-square-kilometers) located 125 miles (201.17 kilometers) southeast of Quito. Block 20 contains the 250-square-mile (647.5-square-kilometer) Pungarayacu oil field. In 2010, Ivanhoe drilled its two appraisal wells in the Pungarayacu field. The second, IP-5b, well was drilled, cored and logged to a total depth ! of 1,080 ! feet. The well was perforated in the Hollin oil sands and steam was injected into the reservoir resulting in production of heated heavy oil. In 2011, the heavy crude oil extracted from the IP-5B well was upgraded to local pipeline specifications using Ivanhoe�� HTL upgrading process. In 2011, the Company completed a 190-kilometer 2-D seismic survey over the southern portion of Block 20.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Stephan Dube]

  Athabasca's most notable producers:

  Suncor Energy (SU) (Part 1), see article here.Suncor Energy (Part 2), see article here.Athabasca Oil (ATHOF.PK), see article here.Canadian Natural Resources, see article here.Imperial Oil, see article here.Cenovus Energy (CVE), see article here.MEG Energy (MEGEF.PK), see article here.Devon Energy, see article here.Royal Dutch Shell, see article here.Ivanhoe Energy (IVAN), see article here.Nexen (CNOOC) (CEO), see article here.

  An analysis of the current operations of the company will be examined with the objective to provide the most complete information available to potential investors before deciding to seize the opportunity that the 54,132 square miles of the Carbonate Triangle has to offer. Let's start by introducing Athabasca, a famous and most prolific region in the Canadian oil sands as well as one of the largest reserve in the world.

Top 5 Gas Companies To Invest In 2015: Marathon Petroleum Corp (MPC)

Marathon Petroleum Corporation (MPC), incorporated on November 9, 2009, is a petroleum product refiners, transporters and marketers in the United States. The Company operates in three segments: Refining & Marketing, Speedway and Pipeline Transportation. Marathon Petroleum�� refining, marketing and transportation operations are concentrated in the Midwest, Gulf Coast and Southeast regions of the United States. MPC has two retail brands: Speedway and Marathon. Effective as of June 30, 2011, MPC was separated from Marathon Oil Corporation (Marathon Oil) and became an independent company in a spin-off transaction.

Refining & Marketing

The Company owned and operated six refineries in the Gulf Coast and Midwest regions of the United States with an aggregate crude oil refining capacity of approximately 1.2 million barrels per calendar day as of December 31, 2011. During 2011, its refineries processed 1,177 million barrels per day of crude oil and 181 mbpd of other charge and blend stocks. Its refineries include crude oil atmospheric and vacuum distillation, fluid catalytic cracking, catalytic reforming, desulfurization and sulfur recovery units. The refineries process a range of crude oils and produce numerous refined products, ranging from transportation fuels, such as reformulated gasolines, blend-grade gasolines intended for blending with fuel ethanol and ultra-low-sulfur diesel fuel, to heavy fuel oil and asphalt. Additionally, MPC manufacture aromatics, propane, propylene, cumene and sulfur.

The Company�� Garyville, Louisiana refinery is located along the Mississippi River in southeastern Louisiana between New Orleans and Baton Rouge. The Garyville refinery is configured to process heavy sour crude oil into products, such as gasoline, distillates, asphalt, polymer grade propylene, propane, isobutane, sulfur and fuel-grade coke. The Catlettsburg, Kentucky refinery is located in northeastern Kentucky on the western bank of the Big Sandy River, near the confluence! with the Ohio River. The Catlettsburg refinery processes sweet and sour crude oils into products such as gasoline, distillates, asphalt, cumene, petrochemicals, propane and propylene. The Robinson, Illinois refinery is located in southeastern Illinois. The Robinson refinery processes sweet and sour crude oils into products, such as multiple grades of gasoline, distillates, anode-grade coke, propane, butane and propylene.

MPC�� Detroit, Michigan refinery is located near Interstate 75 in southwest Detroit. It is the petroleum refinery operating in Michigan. The Detroit refinery processes light sweet and heavy sour crude oils, including Canadian crude oils, into products, such as gasoline, distillates, asphalt, slurry, propane, and propylene. Its Canton, Ohio refinery is located approximately 60 miles southeast of Cleveland, Ohio. The Canton refinery processes sweet and sour crude oils into products such as gasoline, distillates, asphalt, propane, slurry and roofing flux. Its Texas City, Texas refinery is located on the Texas Gulf Coast approximately 30 miles south of Houston, Texas. The refinery processes sweet crude oil into products such as gasoline, chemical grade propylene, propane, slurry and aromatics.

As of December 31, 2011, the Company owned and operated 62 light product and 21 asphalt terminals. In addition, it distributes through approximately 52 third-party light product and 12 third-party asphalt terminals in its market area. During 2011, marine transportation operations included 15 towboats, as well as 167 owned and 14 leased barges that transport refined products on the Ohio, Mississippi and Illinois rivers and their tributaries, as well as the Intercoastal Waterway. As of December 31, 2011, the Company leased or owned approximately 1,950 railcars of various sizes and capacities for movement and storage of refined products. In addition, it own 124 transport trucks for the movement of refined products.

The Company produces propane at all six of its! refineri! es. Propane is primarily used for home heating and cooking, as a feedstock within the petrochemical industry, for grain drying and as a fuel for trucks and other vehicles. The Company is also a producer and marketer of feedstocks and specialty products. Product availability varies by refinery and includes propylene, cumene, dilute naphthalene oil, molten sulfur, toluene, benzene and xylene. Propane is primarily used for home heating and cooking, as a feedstock within the petrochemical industry, for grain drying and as a fuel for trucks and other vehicles.

Speedway

The Company sells transportation fuels and convenience products in the retail market in the Midwest, primarily through Speedway convenience stores. The Speedway segment sells gasoline and merchandise through convenience stores that the Companu owns and operates, primarily under the Speedway brand. Speedway-branded convenience stores offer a range of merchandise, such as prepared foods, beverages and non-food items, including a number of private-label items. As of December 31, 2011, Speedway had 1,371 convenience stores in seven states.

Pipeline Transportation

The Company transports crude oil and other feedstocks to our refineries and other locations, delivers refined products to wholesale and retail market areas and includes, among other transportation-related assets, a majority interest in LOOP LLC, which is the owner and operator of the United States deepwater oil port. It owns common carrier pipeline systems through Marathon Pipe Line LLC (MPL) and Ohio River Pipe Line LLC (ORPL), both of which are wholly owned subsidiaries. These pipeline systems transport crude oil and refined products, primarily in the Midwest and Gulf Coast regions, to its refineries, its terminals and other pipeline systems. The Company�� MPL and ORPL wholly owned carrier systems consist of 1,707 miles of crude oil lines and 1,825 miles of refined product lines comprising 31 systems located in 11 states, as of Decem! ber 31, 2! 011. In addition, MPL leases and operates 217 miles of common carrier refined product pipelines.

The common carrier refined product pipelines include the owned and operated Cardinal Products Pipeline and the Wabash Pipeline. The Cardinal Products Pipeline delivers refined products from Kenova, West Virginia, to Columbus, Ohio. The Wabash Pipeline system delivers refined products from Robinson, Illinois, to various terminals in the area of Chicago, Illinois. Other refined product pipelines owned and operated by MPL extend from: Robinson, Illinois to Louisville, Kentucky; Robinson, Illinois to Lima, Ohio; Wood River, Illinois to Indianapolis, Indiana; Garyville, Louisiana to Zachary, Louisiana, and Texas City, Texas to Pasadena, Texas.

As of December 31, 2011, the Company had partial ownership interests in the pipeline companies that have approximately 110 miles of crude oil pipelines and 3,600 miles of refined products pipelines, including about 970 miles operated by MPL, which include Centennial Pipeline LLC (Centennial), Explorer Pipeline Company (Explorer), LOCAP LLC (LOCAP), LOOP LLC (LOOP), Muskegon Pipeline LLC (Muskegon) and Wolverine Pipe Line Company (Wolverine).

The Company holds a 50% interest in Centennial, which owns a refined products pipeline system connecting the Gulf Coast region with the Midwest market. The Company holds a 17% interest in Explorer, a refined products pipeline system extending from the Gulf Coast to the Midwest. It holds a 51% interest in LOOP, the owner and operator of the Louisiana Offshore Oil Port, which is a deepwater oil port capable of receiving crude oil from large crude carriers, located 18 miles off the coast of Louisiana, and a crude oil pipeline connecting the port facility to storage caverns and tanks at Clovelly, Louisiana. The Company holds a 60% interest in Muskegon, which owns a refined products pipeline extending from Griffith, Indiana to North Muskegon, Michigan. It hold a 6% interest in Wolverine, a refined prod! ucts pipe! line system extending from Chicago, Illinois to Toledo, Ohio.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  Marathon Petroleum (NYSE: MPC  ) , down 13.6%
  Refinery stocks across the industry have performed well and been an important part of the S&P's long-term rally, but last month, they gave up ground as the spreads between U.S. and foreign crude prices started to narrow. An even more serious threat to Marathon and its peers comes from new environmental laws that will require extensive capital expenditures to comply. For Marathon to start moving higher again, it needs to see spreads start to widen again and for heightened energy use to keep prices up while still getting cheap oil from the U.S. oil patch.

• [By Tyler Crowe]

  That's OK, we can produce our own oil so we don't need to worry about prices overseas, right? Not really. As much as we would like to think that U.S. oil companies are going to shield us from expensive prices overseas, it is more likely that they are salivating at the idea of selling to those markets.�In the previous quarter, the trio of large independent refiners with a presence in the Gulf of Mexico���Valero (NYSE: VLO  ) , Phillips 66 (NYSE: PSX  ) , and Marathon Petroleum (NYSE: MPC  ) ��combined to export 785,000 barrels of gasoline and diesel per day to markets in Europe and South America. Each of these companies' execs stated in their recent conference calls that they are doing this because the prices there are much more attractive, and each one has plans to expand export capacity to take advantage of these high prices. As long as someone is paying a higher price for gas overseas, we will likely be stuck with high prices as well.

• [By Dimitra DeFotis]

  Among energy stocks, refiners, whose input costs are rising, were losers: Marathon Petroleum�(MPC) had dropped by 0.72%, while�Valero Energy�(VLO),�HollyFrontier�(HFC) and�Tesoro�(TSO) were down fractionally. Shares of integrated oil-and-gas producer and refiner ExxonMobil (XOM) were up 0.22% to $87.65. Exploration companies have been winners with the price of both oil and natural gas moving higher in July and August.

Top 5 Gas Companies To Invest In 2015: LinnCo LLC (LNCO)

Linn Co, LLC (Linn Co) sole purpose is to own LINN Energy, LLC (LINN) units. LINN is independent oil and natural gas company. LINN is focused on the development and acquisition of oil and natural gas properties, which include various producing basins within the United States. LINN�� properties are located in eight operating regions, which include Mid-Continent, which includes properties in Oklahoma, Louisiana and the eastern portion of the Texas Panhandle; Hugoton Basin, which includes properties located primarily in Kansas and the Shallow Texas Panhandle; Green River Basin, which includes properties located in southwest Wyoming; Permian Basin, which includes areas in west Texas and southeast New Mexico; Michigan/Illinois, which includes the Antrim Shale formation in the northern part of Michigan and oil properties in southern Illinois; California, which includes the Brea Olinda Field of the Los Angeles Basin; Williston/Powder River Basin, which includes the Bakken formation in North Dakota and the Powder River Basin in Wyoming, and East Texas, which includes properties located in east Texas. On March 30, 2012, the Company acquired certain oil and natural gas properties (Properties) located primarily in the Hugoton Basin of Southwestern Kansas from BP America Production Company (BP). On May 1, 2012, LINN completed the acquisition of certain oil and natural gas properties located in east Texas. In December 2013, Linn Energy LLC and Linn Co, LLC (Linn Co) announced the completion of the merger between LinnCo and Berry Petroleum Company (Berry), where LinnCo had acquired all of Berry's interest.

During the year ended December 31, 2011, LINN drilled a total of 294 gross wells. As of June 1, 2012, LINN had interests in approximately 15,000 gross productive wells (approximately 71% operated) and approximately 1.8 million net acres across seven regions in the United States.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Matt DiLallo]

  I firmly believe that LINN will successfully navigate the SEC inquiry, which once resolved should end the attacks against the company. In anticipation of that happening, I want to take advantage of the weakness created to add to my position in the company. In fact, I can point to two other major reasons why I think LINN and its affiliate LinnCo (NASDAQ: LNCO  ) are both compelling values worth buying today.

• [By Matt DiLallo]

  As I write this units of LINN Energy (NASDAQ: LINE  ) are heading lower while shares of affiliate LinnCo (NASDAQ: LNCO  ) are following suit. The culprit is an article in Barron's on the company that is highlighting comments from a recent presentation by a hedge fund that's short the company. The article, "Twilight of a Stock-Market Darling", is one of the many recent publications on the company that have highlighted some areas of concern. Let's dig into the thesis of the recent concerns and see if we can glean some insight into what's going on.

• [By Jayson Derrick]

  Analysts at Citigroup downgraded LinnCo (NASDAQ: LNCO) to Neutral from Buy with a price target lowered to $31.50 from a previous $41. Shares lost 0.80 percent, closing at $27.43.

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  Howard Weil’s Brian Corales explains why he thinks 2015 will be a good year for Linn Energy (LINE) and LinnCo (LNCO):

  Bloomberg/ Brett Gundlock

  Last year was riddled with regulatory hurdles and scrutiny over maintenance CAPEX and hedges. This has resulted in Linn Energy going back to the basics focusing on shallow decline assets while monetizing the sexy high flow rate wells and non-producing shale acreage. As a result, we think this eventually leads to a better market acceptance and ultimately a higher stock price. With the monetization/trade of the Granite Wash and Permian assets, Linn Energy should have an improved balance sheet and shallower corporate declines…