Resilient Markets Recover From Ukraine Drop

World markets turned positive in Asia and Europe Tuesday,convinced there won't be military clashes anytime soon over the Ukraine crisis.The Nikkei went up 0.47 and the Hong Seng rose 0.70,optimistic that a standoff in Crimea will not escalate today as Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered Russian troops to halt their exercises in Western Russia and return to base,although there is no sign of an end to the crisis,either.
US Secretary of State John Kerry departed for Kiev talks with Ukraine's interim government Monday night,raising hopes of diplomatic progress.
US stock futures followed suit,recovering most of Monday's losses,as did European indexes.The FTSE was up 1.05 as of time of publication,and the CAC rose 1.15,while the DAX climbed 0.75.The underlying sentiment in markets is bullish,and they are not going to let Ukraine end the trend unless there are further developments.
At the same time,gold and oil prices declined as traders' fears of a shooting war eased-at least momentarily.Gold was near a four month high at close of trading Monday.

Saudi Aramco's Long View

Saudi Aramco,Saudi Arabia's state oil firm,sees its prospects from a long term perspective.Oil demand in the West is currently very sluggish,according to Khalid al-Fallih,CEO of Saudi Aramco,but Saudi Arabia can survive on lower prices than others can,given the scale of its production.The world has 9-10 trillion barrels of oil.If we look at history,Mr.al-Fallih says,the industry has been able to replace its reserves and more.Our expectations in technology,both in discovery and production,have been very,very bullish.It's gonna take decades to shift from oil in any meaningful way.There is a happy medium,Mr.al-Fallih assures us,where consumers will not be hurt and investors will support exploration.

Alaska's Buried Treasure

According to the U.S. Geological Survey,Alaskan waters cover more hydrocarbons than was previously understood.It had been supposed that the Chukchi Sea area held 30 billion cubic feet of natural gas.Now the USGS thinks there is far more natural gas there.They estimate the Chukchi field contains 30% of the world's undiscovered total,or 1.6 trillion cubic feet.As well,some 4% of the world's undiscovered oil is now believed to be under Chukchi-about 83 billion barrels.
The Chukchi Sea is off Alaska's northwest coast,roughly between Point Barrow and the Seward Penninsula.It is bisected by the International Date Line,with Russia being on the other side of the line.The U.S.Congress has yet to approve exploitation of the resource,while Russia is going ahead with the activity.Critics of Congress point out that alternative energy is still in its infancy.It will be at least several decades before it is viable,they contend.Alaska has the energy resources we can use today,Governor Sarah Palin insists.Environmentalists are concerned that development in the area will harm wildlife such as polar bears.