![\"BlackstoneGroup\"](\"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/BlackstoneGroup.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nI don’t know how to make money on oil.<\/p>\n
But Blackstone sure does. Stephen Schwartzman, Blackstone founder and CEO, raised one energy fund of $2.5 billion. It’s returning 44%. He’s raising another one of $4 billion plus. (He didn’t ask me to participate. Shucks.) He couldn’t be more optimistic.\u00a0 He sees oil as a commodity where prices overshoot — both ways. He sees tremendous opportunities in “restructuring” the companies who raised money based on $100 a barrel. Now it’s 40% less. Imagine building a chocolate factory and finding six months later, the price you could sell your chocolate has plummeted 40%. You’re going to need some financing before the price picks up and before you can figure how to reduce your costs.<\/p>\n
Today’s New York Times Dealbook<\/em>:<\/p>\n Yesterday, Stephen A. Schwarzman, the chief executive of the Blackstone Group, discussed oil prices and investing with an energy fund.<\/em><\/p>\n To view the video click here.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Here are excerpts from yesterday’s New York Times piece:<\/p>\n With oil prices falling, the world’s largest private equity firm sees a buying opportunity.<\/p>\n The Blackstone Group, the private equity giant run by Stephen A. Schwarzman, is almost finished raising a new fund for energy investments that is expected to exceed $4 billion in assets. On Thursday, Mr. Schwarzman said he had particularly high hopes for the strategy.<\/p>\n “I think this is going to be a wonderful, wonderful opportunity for us,” Mr. Schwarzman said at the DealBook conference in Manhattan on Thursday. “It’s going to be one of the best opportunities we’ve had in many, many years.”<\/p>\n The price of a barrel of crude oil fell below $60 on Thursday for the first time since 2009, furthering weeks of declines that have put pressure on the energy production industry. Shares of energy companies have fallen since the summer, when oil prices peaked.<\/p>\n Amid the turmoil, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries has declined to cut its production to support prices and focused instead on defending its market share. Laurence D. Fink, the chief executive of BlackRock, said on Thursday he had learned that Abu Dhabi of the United Arab Emirates had recently increased its oil production to preserve its cash flow.<\/p>\n The boom in North American energy production has increased global supply and probably contributed to the fall in prices, Mr. Schwarzman said. While OPEC may be concerned, Mr. Schwarzman expressed excitement.<\/p>\n “This is a wonderful, wonderful time,” he said. “This is a commodity. It’s not patent-protected. Commodities go into undersupply and oversupply.”<\/p>\n Bloomberg has a piece on energy this morning. They say:<\/p>\n Borrowing costs for energy companies have skyrocketed in the past six months as West Texas Intermediate crude, the U.S. benchmark, has dropped 44 percent to $60.46 a barrel since reaching this year’s peak of $107.26 in June.<\/p>\n For the piece, click here.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Energy stocks have fallen, even the largest. These are six month charts:<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n