WHY INVEST IN OIL & GAS?

The secret to asset appreciation is to buy in the path of growth.

Oil is one of the most important natural resources known to mankind. For most societies in the world, oil is the principal natural resource that fuels their economies.

Then why, in this great age of communication and technology, do we need to be concerned about a natural resource like oil? Simple. Nearly 98% of everything you have or do is in some way related to crude oil. Heat for your home, gas for your car, 2 liter plastic bottles for pop, and petroleum jelly are just a few examples of products created from crude oil.

The United States has the greatest standard of living in the world, as well as the largest economy. Why? Because we have always tried to maintain control over the supply, as well as price, of oil. Over the last 10 years, the U.S. economy has undergone the largest economic expansion in history and cheap oil has fueled this unprecedented growth. Unlike the 1970s, when the U.S. was held at bay by OPEC withholding oil production for political reasons, the growth of the oil industry during the 1990s, and beyond, will be more likely be determined by the laws of supply and demand.

As democracy and capitalism are spreading around the world, global oil consumption is at record levels. Throughout Latin America, Russia, India and Asia, economic growth is accelerating at a remarkable pace; much faster than anything we have seen in the U.S. Recently, Forbes described the development now exploding across Asia:

"You can almost smell the money in Shanghai, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpau or just about any East Asian commercial center outside Japan these days. Traffic snarled, construction booming, glitzy shopping malls showing the latest Hollywood movies... These formerly traditional societies, stagnant for centuries, are exploding into the modern capitalist world and spawning vast new middle classes with a taste for consumer goods and the means to indulge that taste. Healthy economics generate great wealth, and Asia is churning out billionaires as though on a conveyor belt."

--Forbes

In these countries, more than two billion people, or more than 40% of the world's population, are suddenly entering the age of consumerism. Thanks to American movies, TVs and VCRs, they have seen what the rest of the world has and they want it all. "They want McDonald's french fries. They want Coke. They want Levi jeans. They want Caterpillar tractors. They want cars, cameras, mouthwash, homes, toothpaste, Tide, aspirin and ten thousand other products we take for granted. "In vast regions of these countries, they're starting from the raw basics of modern life. They need electric power, running water, sewage treatment plants, bridges, tunnels, roads, cities -- you name it. "And oil is the one commodity absolutely essential to this tidal wave of global growth. It's literally the blood supply of capitalism. If you're a developing country, you need all the oil you can get to drive your trucks, your cars, your planes and ships. You need oil to run your factories, machines and power plants so necessary to a modern industrial economy. "What we're seeing is the first simultaneous, worldwide economic expansion since the late 1970s. But this time, many newly industrialized countries are joining the party and importing an unending procession of super-tankers laden with black gold."

--Personal Finance

An immense market and the promise of continuing growth are why oil and gas is such a sure investment.

If you have comments ar questions about this and other topics of interest to Oil and Gas investing, please feel free to ask Larry Neely, president of Maverick Energy, Inc.