Energy Business Recap: Solar Stocks Blaze, Chesapeake Energy Shares Catch Some Luck

Last year Exelon (NYSE:EXC) had agreed to purchase a solar farm in Los Angeles County, and in a 1.36B deal First Solar (NASDAQ:FSLR) gets approval to build and operate the facility.

Investing Insights: Helix Energy Solutions Group Inc. Fourth Quarter Earnings Sneak Peek.

Data conflict with Citigroup’s announcement Thursday that the concept of peak oil is dead. Oil production from existing areas like the North Sea or Alaska is in fact declining steadily, but Citigroup’s report implies the world’s oil production can be forever sustained by new technology. Because of the decline, the oil industry “must run just to stand still.”

Stifel Nicolaus has upgraded Chesapeake Energy (NYSE:CHK) shares to Buy from Hold, causing them to jump. The analyst commented that this is “an attractive entry point for a company whose stock has gone nowhere since late 2008 and yet has amassed a huge resource exposure with some large acreage positions in some of the best plays”.

Reports of Mitsui’s (MITSY.PK) $90M settlement for Clean Water Act violations in the Deepwater Horizon spill causes BP to jump, +1.6%. Rumors had it that the government was going to go for a total of $20B, making $90M for BP’s 10% partner lighter-than-expected.

Investing Insights: 2 Energy Stocks in Trading Spotlight After Earnings Reports.

To contact the reporter on this story: Mark Lawson at staff.writers@wallstcheatsheet.com

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Damien Hoffman at editors@wallstcheatsheet.com