UNTAPPED U.S. OIL + Gas Reserves

A couple of interesting charts showing some of the Price and Supply dynamics of Crude Oil:

* PRICE --> Check out the below graph depicting CRUDE OIL's 'bubblicious' spike since the beginning of 2008:

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* SUPPLY --> The below graph is a snapshot showing 2007's drop in oil exports amidst historically high 2007 crude prices...partially demonstrates my belief that oil is a long term SUPPLY problem/concern (you'd think with prices so high exporters would be churning out max supply...maybe they are churning out max supply and that STILL isn't enough to meet rising WW demand):

*Lastly, speaking of SUPPLY, check out the below U.S. map showing WHERE the country has their largest 'potential' undeveloped (non-drilled) Reserves of Crude OIL + Natural Gas:


Data Courtesy: EIA + Barchart.com + U.S. Geological Survey

Global GAS Price$

March 2008 GASOLINE Prices per gallon:

* China - $2.82

* United States - $3.45

* Brazil - $5.94

* United Kingdom - $8.38

* Norway - $8.73

FYI - Retail gasoline prices in China are unnaturally low because China's government subsidizes the (consumer) price of gasoline. That's also why profit margins for China's STATE-owned CRUDE OIL refiners (companies like Sinopec and to a lesser extent, PetroChina) get ExtrAOrdinarily SQUEEZED when oil prices run too high, too quickly.

Data Courtesy: The Wall Street Journal.
Full Disclosure: I own shares of PTR.

REF - World's Largest Economies

WORLD'S LARGEST ECONOMIES according to 2006 data published by the International Monetary Fund (IMF):

*Largest by Nominal GDP:
1. United States -- $13.2 Trillion
2. Japan -- $4.4T
3. Germany -- $2.9T
4. China -- $2.6T
5. United Kingdom -- $2.4T
6. France -- $2.3T
7. Italy -- $1.9T
8. Canada -- $1.3T
9. Spain -- $1.2T
10. Brazil -- $1.1T
11. Russia -- $ 1.0T
12. South Korea -- $0.89T
13. India -- $0.87T
14. Mexico -- $0.84T
15. Australia -- $0.76T
16. Netherlands -- $0.67T
17. Turkey -- $0.4T
18. Belgium -- $0.39T
19. Switzerland -- $0.39T
20. Sweden -- $0.38T
21. Taiwan -- $0.36T
22. Indonesia -- $0.36T
23. Saudi Arabia -- $0.35T
24. Poland -- $0.34T
25. Norway -- $0.33T
Other Notables:
30. Iran -- $0.22T
37. Venezuela -- $0.18T
65. Luxembourg -- $41 Billion

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*Largest by GDP per Capita ("the value of all final goods and services produced within a nation in a given year, divided by the average population for the same year"):
1. Luxembourg -- $102K per person
2. Norway -- $79K
3. Qatar -- $71K
4. Iceland -- $63K
5. Ireland -- $59K
6. Denmark -- $57K
7. Switzerland -- $57K
8. Sweden -- $47K
9. United States -- $46K
10. Netherlands -- $45K
11. United Kingdom -- $45K
12. Finland -- $45K
13. Austria -- $44K
14. Canada -- $43K
15. Australia -- $43K
16. United Arab Emirates -- $42K
17. Belgium -- $42K
18. France -- $41K
19. Germany -- $40K
20. Italy -- $35K
21. Singapore -- $34K
22. Japan -- $34K
23. Brunei -- $33K
24. Kuwait -- $32K
25. Greece -- $32K
Other Notables:
36. Taiwan -- $16K
39. Saudi Arabia -- $15K
54. Russia -- $9K
61. Brazil -- $7K
83. Iran -- $4K
104. China -- $2K
132. India -- $1K

Data Courtesy: Wikipedia.com + the IMF, snagged on 4/05/08.

REF - North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)

NATO (the North Atlantic Treaty Organization) is a military alliance between 28 member nations. According to Wikipedia.com, NATO "has established a system of collective defense whereby its member states agree to mutual defense in response to an attack by any external party".

List of NATO member nations:
*Albania (TBA 2009)
*Beligium
*Bulgaria
*Canada
*Croatia (TBA 2009)
*Czech Republic
*Denmark
*Estonia
*France
*Greece
*Germany
*Hungary
*Iceland
*Italy
*Latvia
*Lithuania
*Luxembourg
*Netherlands
*Norway
*Poland
*Portugal
*Romania
*Slovakia
*Slovenia
*Spain
*Turkey
*United Kingdom
*United States
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Additional NATO facts:
*Established by the signing of the North Atlantic Treaty in 1949
*The treaty was created with an armed attack by the Soviet Union against Western Europe in mind, but the mutual self-defense clause was never invoked during the Cold War
*Headquarters in Brussels, Belgium
*Founding countries (members since 1949) - Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, United Kingdom and the United States

*Two general membership limits to non-member states:
1.) Only European states are eligible for membership and

2.) These states need the approval of all the existing member states

Data Courtesy: Wikipedia.com, snagged on 4/05/08.

Gamestop In Norway + 30 Days Til GTA4 !

Gamestop (GME) just announced that they bought an additional 49 store locations in Norway...further diversifying their revenue + earnings base away from the U.S:

http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2008/03/31/ap4832933.html

From the article:
*GME is buying an additional 49 Free Norway Record Shops and then converting them into Gamestop video game outlets
*The deal is expected to be completed in early April
*After the stores are added, GameStop will run 160 locations throughout Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland (per Google Finance, as of February 2007, GME operated 4,778 stores WW)

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*Lastly...note to SELF...we are only 30 DAYS AWAY (4/29/08) from Take Two's (TTWO) BLOCKBUSTER launch OF potential VIDEO GAME OF THE YEAR, GTA 4...should be a positive catalyst for GME shares. Check out the impressive GTA 4 HYPE at:

http://www.rockstargames.com/IV/

Data Courtesy: Forbes.
Full Disclosure: I currently own shares of GME.