Exactly what the future energy landscape will look like is hard to guess. The regulatory environment including a carbon tax and the pricing of alternative energy sources such as wind and solar, but also less convention sources such as geothermal, are just two of the hard to forecast factors which cloud the future outlook.
Despite the apparent haziness of the outlook, there are still plenty of reasons to be positive about a number of investment opportunities in the energy sector.
LNG play
Oil Search Limited (ASX: OSH) has a major share of the enormous PNG LNG Project which aims to produce and export LNG from the Highlands of Papua New Guinea. With the project nearing completion, the risk of future unknowns is diminishing.
Retailing
Origin Energy Limited (ASX: ORG) is a major integrated energy company. Whilst the firm's upstream and downstream energy assets are very appealing in their own right, its retail distribution business adds a major string to Origin's bow.
Renewables
AGL Energy Ltd (ASX: AGK) has made significant investments in renewable energy assets, with a particular emphasis on wind power. While critics argue that the intermittent nature of wind makes it no substitute for conventional base load power, the technological advancements in battery technology could render this argument defunct in the near future.
Oil and Gas
When it comes to oil and gas, they don't come much bigger than Woodside Petroleum Limited (ASX: WPL) – in Australia at least! Woodside owns assets in partnership with some of the world's largest oil and gas companies. These assets include the North West Shelf which is classed as amongst the best in the world.
Speculative
A portfolio of energy stocks really wouldn't be complete without a "penny stock" idea! One such company which has caught my attention recently is Tigers Realm Coal Ltd (ASX: TIG). Tigers Realm is looking to develop a major coal project in Eastern Russia. The terrain is incredibly inhospitable; however the resource is so appealing that the economics appear to stack up.
