Since this is a forum instead of a message board, it will have to be used differently.
The message board is conducive to argument, which is fine as long as those arguing are informed. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but not their own facts. It will be less exciting on a forum where the goal is presentation of information for discussion.
At their best, the CWEI (an obscure company with small following) message boards at Yahoo and later Investor Village attracted only informed members who discussed things rationally. Then the crowds of uninformed came to present opinion as fact and argue endlessly and uselessly. Like bad money driving out good, the ignorant drove out the informed.
Sometimes I feel like arguing for the sake of arguing and I like to win. When I feel like that, I will post at IV.
The strong point at Investors Insight is their blogs. The neat thing about the blogs is that you can ask the writer questions and add comment. With that in mind, Here are some of the items I found pertinent to O&G investing:
Bret Boteler is the resident O&G blogger at Investors Insight. His comments are worth reading at http://www.investorsinsight.com/blogs/bret_boteler_on_oil_gas/default.aspx
“There is a good deal of evidence that we are now a little past "peak oil". Many of us find it doesn't feel quite like we had imagined.” The article is at http://www.theoildrum.com/node/5348#more
Chinese Oil demand is probably a decent indicator of the state of their economy and certainly affects global energy prices. Platts is set up to track it (maybe?) http://www.platts.com/weblog/oilblog/2009/04/platts_estimates_chinese_appar.html#more
For some comments on the state of refining in the US, see http://www.platts.com/weblog/oilblog/2009/04/new_refineries_in_the_us_more.html#more
Some discussion on the relationship between Capital Expenditures and production - http://www.platts.com/weblog/oilblog/2009/04/cera_report.html#more
Let us know what questions you asked the authors and whether you feel the information is useful or not.
Cordially,J. C. Harperwww.jcharper.net