VIDEO - Energy Update October 2018

October was another interesting month for the energy sector.

In this October energy update, Georgia and Olivia discuss uranium news in the US and Australia, what’s been happening with the oil price and announcements from top companies in the sector.

Watch the video above or read the full transcript below.

Olivia: Georgia, can we start by talking about uranium?

Georgia: Sure, the month started with the USSupreme Court upholding an Obama-era uranium mining ban for land in and around the Grand Canyon. US uranium miners had hoped the Supreme Court would reverse the decision and allow for the resource extracted. Especially since president Trump deemed uranium an issue of national security earlier this year.

Olivia: So, can the US meet demand with domestic production?

Georgia: The short answer is no. They just don’t have enough uranium projects underway or in development to meet their own demand.

Olivia: On the note of developing projects, apparently Australia is working on adding more uranium projects to its list?

Georgia: Yea, so Australia is considered to have some of the best uranium deposits in the world, however due to strict regulations and guidelines around mining there are only a handful of projects underway.  TheMineral Council of Australiaissued a report that sort of deems the regulations unwarranted and biased, in hopes that they can get them reversed, allowing for uranium mining in Australia. The market is especially good right now so it’s a perfect time for Australia to get in while the digging is good.

Olivia: And how has uranium pricing been this month?

Georgia: Uranium is doing well, like I was saying. It started the year around US$21.88 per pound and sits at US$27.60 where it ended the month of October.  

Olivia: And on that note, we released a top stocks and update for U3O8 didn’t we?

Georgia: We did. We spoke to sector analysts, as well as the VP atEnergy Fuels (TSX:EFR,NYSEAMERICAN:UUUU), and we looked at how uranium performed in the third quarter. You can read that article as well as the top stock list on our website.

Now, you covered an interesting story about Paladin Energy (ASX:PDN)?

Olivia: I did. So Paladin Energy has had a tough year, with the  release of its Q3 results it showed that there was a US$17 million drop in revenue between quarters.

Georgia: Oh, what caused such a significant drop?

Olivia: So in May, the company actually put its Langer Heinrich mine in Namibia on care and maintenance, which shut down production for the time being.  

Georgia: Interesting. Uranium mining in Africa was the topic of conversation when INN sat down with GoviEx Uranium’s ( TSXV:GXU,OTCQB:GVXXF) CEO Daniel Major, at theMines and Money conference last month in Toronto. Major told us that uranium mining in Africa is often easier to get off the ground because the projects are little more favorable and regulations are a little more lax.

Olivia: Ok, now if we can switch over to oil and gas sector, what were some of the top news stories in October?

Georgia: Sure. So the month started with oilsurging past US$84 a barrel, amid concerns that Iranian sanctions imposed by the US would remove hundreds of thousands of barrels of oil from the market. Those fears never materialized and we are currently dealing with an oversupply from Saudi Arabia Fears have since eased and oil is currently sitting at roughly US$63.45 a barrel.

Olivia: I see. It’s been a pretty volatile year for the oil and gas sector, how are companies dealing with this?

Georgia: We are seeing a lot of companies sell off non-core assets and stakes in small projects. Shell (AMS:RDSA) for instance just sold US$1.9 billion in offshore assets to the Norwegian Energy Company (FWB:CJ1). They’re looking to get rid of US$30 billion in assets to focus their energy and their practices where the money is.

Don’t forget to follow us @INN_Resource for real-time updates!

Securities Disclosure: I, Georgia Williams, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.

Editorial Disclosure: Energy Fuels is a client of the Investing News Network. This article is not paid-for content.