Top 10 Gas Utility Companies To Buy Right Now

Top 10 Gas Utility Companies To Buy Right Now: Bhp Billiton PLC (BBL)

BHP Billiton plc, incorporated in 1996, is diversified natural resources company. The Company generally operates through customer sector groups (CSGs). The Company operates in nine segments: Petroleum, Aluminium, Base Metals, Diamonds and Specialty Products, Stainless Steel Materials, Iron Ore, Manganese, Metallurgical Coal and Energy Coal. As of June 30, 2012, the Company was working in more than 100 locations worldwide. During the fiscal year ended June 30, 2012 (fiscal 2012), the Company total petroleum production was 222.3 millions of barrels of oil equivalent. During fiscal 2012, its aluminium had a total production in 1.2 million tones (Mt) of aluminium. In August 2011, the Company acquired Petrohawk Energy Corporation. On September 30, 2011, it acquired HWE Mining Subsidiaries from Leighton Holdings. On September 7, 2012, the Company announced the sale of its 37.8 % non-operated interest in Richards Bay Minerals.

Petroleum Customer Sector Group

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The Company's petroleum customer sector group (CSG) consists of a base of onshore and offshore operations that are located in six countries throughout the world. The Company's production operations include Bass Strait, North West Shelf, Australia operated, Gulf of Mexico, Onshore United States, Liverpool Bay and Bruce/Keith, Algeria, Trinidad and Tobago and Zamzama. Together with its 50-50 joint venture Esso Australia (a subsidiary of ExxonMobil), the Company has been producing oil and gas from Bass Strait, off the south-eastern coast of Australia. The Company dispatches the majority of its Bass Strait crude oil and condensate production to refineries along the east coast of Australia. Gas is piped onshore to its Longford processing facility, from which it sells the Company's production to domestic distributors under contracts with periodic price re! views.

The Company is a joint venture participant in the North West Shelf Project in Western Australia. The North West Shelf Project was developed in phases the do! mestic gas phase supplies gas to the Western Australian domestic market mainly under long-term contracts, and a series of liquefied natural gas (LNG) expansion phases supplying LNG to buyers in Japan, Korea and China under a series of long-term contracts. The project also produces liquefied petroleum gas LPG and condensate. The Company is also a joint venture participant in four nearby oil fields. Both the North West Shelf gas and oil ventures are operated by Woodside.

The Company operates two oil fields offshore Western Australia and one gas field in Victoria. The Pyrenees oil development consists of three fields, two of which (Crosby and Stickle) are located in blocks WA-42-L, while the third (Ravensworth) straddles blocks WA-42-L and WA-43-L. The project uses a FPSO facility. The Stybarrow operation is an oil development located offshore Western Australia. The Minerva operation is a gas field located offshore Victoria. The operation consists of two subsea pro ducing wells which pipe gas onshore to a processing plant. The gas is delivered into a pipeline and sold domestically.

The Company operates two fields in the Gulf of Mexico (Neptune and Shenzi) and hold non-operating interests in a further three fields (Atlantis, Mad Dog and Genesis). The Company divested its interest in the West Cameron and Starlifter areas in June 2012. The Company delivers its oil production to refineries along the Gulf Coast of the United States. The Company operates in four shale fields located onshore in the United States Fayetteville, Eagle Ford, Haynesville and Permian. The combined leasehold acreage of the Onshore United States fields is approximately 1.6 million net acres in the states of Texas, Louisiana and Arkansas. Its ownership interests range from less than 1% to 100%. During fiscal 2012, the Onshore United S! tates bus! iness delivered 6.9 million barrels of crude oil and condensates, 448 billion cubic feet of natural gas and four m illion barrels of natural gas liquids.

The Liv! erpool Ba! y, United Kingdom, integrated development consists of five producing offshore gas and oil fields in the Irish Sea, the Point of Ayr onshore processing plant in north Wales and associated infrastructure. The Company delivers the Liverpool Bay gas by pipeline to E.ON's Connah's Quay power station. The Company owns 46.1% of and operates Liverpool Bay. It also holds a 16% non-operating interest in the Bruce oil and gas field in the North Sea and operates the Keith field, a subsea tie-back, which is processed via the Bruce platform facilities.

The Company's Algerian operations consists its 38% interest in the ROD Integrated Development, which consists of six satellite oil fields that pump oil back to a dedicated processing train. The Company exited its effective 45 % interest in the Ohanet wet gas development in October 2011. The Greater Angostura project is integrated oil and gas development located offshore east Trinidad. The Company operates the field and h as a 45% interest in the production sharing contract for the project. The Company holds a 38.5 % working interest in and operates the Zamzama gas project in Sindh province of Pakistan. Both gas and condensate are sold domestically.

Aluminium Customer Sector Group

The Company's Aluminium customer sector groups (CSG) is a portfolio of assets at three stages of the aluminium value chain, such as mining bauxite, refining bauxite into alumina, and smelting alumina into aluminium metal. The Company also produced 12.8 metric ton of bauxite and 4.2 metric ton of alumina. Its Boddington/Worsley is an integrated bauxite mining/alumina refining operation. The Boddington bauxite mine in Western Australia supplies bauxite ore to the Worsley alumina refinery via a 62-kilometre long conveying system. It is the Company's sole int! egrated b! auxite mining/alumina refining asset. The Company owns 14.8 % of Mineracao Rio do Norte (MRN), which owns and operates a lar ge bauxite mine in Brazil.

The Company's Alumar! is an in! tegrated alumina refinery/aluminium smelter. The Company owns 36 % of the Alumar refinery and 40 % of the smelter. Alcoa operates both facilities. The operations, and their integrated port facility, are located at Sao Luis in the Maranhao province of Brazil. Alumar sources bauxite from MRN. During fiscal 2012, approximately 27 % of Alumar's alumina production was used to feed the smelter, while the remainder was exported. Its Hillside and Bayside smelters are located at Richards Bay, South Africa. It has a capacity of approximately 715 kiloton's per annum. Hillside imports alumina from its Worsley refinery. The Company owns 47.1 % of and operates the Mozal aluminium smelter in Mozambique, which has a total capacity of approximately 563 kiloton's per annum. Mozal sources power generated by Hydro Cahora Basa via Motraco, a transmission joint venture between Eskom and the national electricity utilities of Mozambique and Swaziland.

Base Metals Customer Sector Group

The Company's Base Metals CSG is producers of copper, silver, lead and uranium, and a producer of zinc. Its portfolio of mining operations includes the Escondida mine in Chile and Olympic Dam in South Australia. Its total copper production during fiscal 2012, was 1.1 metric ton. In addition to conventional mine development, it pursue advanced treatment technologies, such as leaching low-grade chalcopyrite ores. The Company markets five primary products, such as copper concentrates, copper cathodes, uranium oxide, lead concentrates and zinc concentrates.

The Company has 57.5% interest owned and operated Escondida mine. During fiscal 2012, its share of Escondida production was 333.8 kiloton of payable copper in concentrate and 172.0 kiloton of copper cathode. Its Olympic Dam is a producer of copper cat! hode and ! uranium oxide and a refiner of smaller amounts of gold and silver bullion. The Company owns 33.75 % of Antamina copper/zinc mine in Pe ru. The Company's wholly owned Spence copper mine produces! copper c! athode. During fiscal 2012, the Company produced 180.3 kiloton of copper cathode. The Company also has interest in Pampa Norte Cerro Colorado Operation, Cannington and North America-Pinto Valley.

Diamonds and Specialty Products Customer Sector Group

The Company's diamonds and specialty products CSG operate its diamonds business and engage in the exploration and development of a potash business. Its diamonds business is consists of the EKATI Diamond Mine in the Northwest Territories of Canada. The Company's interest in EKATI consists of an 80%t interest in the Core Zone Joint Venture, consisting existing operations and a 58.8 % interest in the Buffer Zone Joint Venture, primarily focusing on exploration targets. The Company sells its rough diamonds to international diamond buyers through its Antwerp sales office.

Stainless Steel Materials Customer Sector Group

The Company's Stainless Steel Materials CSG is primarily a supplier of nickel to the stainless steel industry. The Company also supplies nickel to other markets, including the specialty alloy, foundry, chemicals and refractory material industries. The Company's nickel business consists of two assets, including Nickel West and Cerro Matoso. Nickel West is the name for its wholly owned Western Australian nickel Asset, which consists of an integrated system of mines, concentrators, a smelter and a refinery. The Company mine nickel-bearing sulphide ore at its Mt Keith, Leinster and Cliffs Operations north of Kalgoorlie. The Company operates concentrator plants at Mt Keith and at Leinster, which also concentrate ore from Cliffs. The Company also operates the Kambalda concentrator south of Kalgoorlie, where it source ore through tolling and concentrate purchase arrangements with third ! parties i! n the Kambalda region. The Company's Cerro Matoso is its 99.94 % owned nickel Asset in Colombia, combines a lateritic nickel ore deposit with a ferronickel smelter. Production in during fiscal 2012, was! 48.9 kil! oton of nickel in ferronickel form.

Iron Ore Customer Sector Group

The Company's Iron Ore CSG consists of its Western Australia Iron Ore (WAIO) interests and a 50 % interest in the Samarco Joint Venture in Brazil. The Company sells lump and fines product produced in Australia and pellets from its operations in Brazil. WAIO's operations involve integrated system of mines and more than 1,000 kilometers of rail infrastructure and port facilities in the Pilbara region of northern Western Australia. WAIO operations consist of three joint ventures, such as Mt Newman, Yandi and Mt Goldsworthy and Jimblebar. The Company is a joint venture partner with Vale at the Samarco Operation in Brazil. Samarco consists of a mine and two concentrators located in the State of Minas Gerais, and three pellet plants and a port located in the State of Espirito Sant.

Manganese Customer Sector Group

The Company's Manganese CSG produces a combi nation of ores and alloys from sites in South Africa and Australia. Aproximately 80 % of its ore production is sold directly to external customers and the remainder is used as feedstock in its alloy smelters. The Company owns and manages all manganese mining operations and alloy plants through joint ventures with Anglo American. Its joint venture interests are held through Samancor Manganese, which operates its global Manganese assets. In South Africa, Samancor Manganese (Pty) Ltd owns 74 % of Hotazel Manganese Mines (Pty) Ltd (HMM) and 100 % of the Metalloys division. In Australia, it owns 60 % of Groote Eylandt Mining Company Pty Ltd (GEMCO) and has an effective interest of 60 % in Tasmanian Electro Metallurgical Company Pty Ltd (TEMCO) through GEMCO, which owns 100 % of TEMCO.

Metallurgical Coal Cus! tomer Sec! tor Group

The Company's Metallurgical Coal CSG is a supplier of seaborne metallurgical coal. Metallurgical coal, along with iron ore and ma nganese, is a key input in the production of steel. The Comp! any's e! xport customers are steel producers around the world. The Company has assets in two resource basins, such as the Bowen Basin in Central Queensland, Australia, and the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia.

The Bowen Basin is well positioned to supply the seaborne market. The Company also has access to key infrastructure, including a modern, integrated electric rail network and its own coal loading terminal at Hay Point, Mackay. The Company owns and operates three underground coal mines in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, which supply metallurgical coal to the nearby BlueScope Port Kembla steelworks, and other domestic and export markets. Total production in during fiscal 2012, was approximately 7.9 metric ton.

Energy Coal Customer Sector Group

The Company's Energy Coal CSG is a producers and marketers of export energy coal (also known as thermal or steaming coal) and is also a domestic supplier to the electricity gen eration industry in Australia, South Africa and the United States. The Company makes export sales to power generators and some industrial users in Asia, Europe and the United States, usually under contracts for delivery of a fixed volume of coal. The Company operates three assets, including a group of mines and associated infrastructure collectively known as BHP Billiton Energy Coal South Africa; its New Mexico Coal operations in the United States; and its New South Wales Energy Coal operations in Australia. The Company also owns a 33.33 % share of the Cerrejon Coal Company, which operates a coal mine in Colombia.

BHP Billiton Energy Coal South Africa (BECSA) operates four coal mines being Khutala, Klipspruit, Middelburg and Wolvekrans in the Witbank region of Mpumalanga province of South Afr! ica. The ! Company owns and operates the Navajo mine, located on Navajo Nation land in New Mexico, and the nearby San Juan mine located in the state of New Mexico. Each mine t ransports its production directly to a nearby power station.! New Sout! h Wales Energy Coal's operating asset is the Mt Arthur Coal open-cut mine in the Hunter Valley region of New South Wales, which produced approximately 17 metric ton during fiscal 2012. The Company has a one-third interest in Cerrejon Coal Company, which owns and operates open-cut export coal mines in La Guajira province of Colombia, as well as integrated rail and port facilities through which the majority of production is exported to European, Middle Eastern, North American and Asian customers.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Roland Head]

  LONDON -- After making strong gains toward the end of last year, shares in miners Rio Tinto  (LSE: RIO  ) (NYSE: RIO  ) and BHP Billiton  (LSE: BLT  ) (NYSE: BBL  ) have fallen by around 10% since the beginning of 2013.

• [By Roland Head]

  Today, I'm going to take a look at global mining giant BHP Billiton  (LSE: BLT  ) (NYSE: BBL  ) and its much smaller, US-based peer Cliffs Natural Resources  (NYSE: CLF  ) , which is the largest producer of iron ore in the U.S. and has an Australian mine that exports iron ore to China, in competition with BHP.

• [By Harvey Jones]

  LONDON -- Investors in mining company BHP Billiton  (LSE: BLT  ) (NYSE: BBL  ) have had a rocky time lately.

  Its share price is down 15% over three months, 20% over two years (against a 10% rise for the FTSE 100) and is flat over five years.

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