In this issue:

 The Permian Basin is so old that the Bakken and the Eagle Ford get much more hype, even though they have lower recoverable reserves in the aggregate. We discuss the leading Permian producer already in our portfolio and several smaller and newer players with more at stake in West Texas.

Meanwhile, back in the east, two leading gas processors are competing for a dominant position in the Marcellus and the Utica. Both could end up winning big.

Portfolio Updates has news on two other holdings poised to profit from the rush to export natural gas and related fuels overseas. Safe investing to you during this time of market turmoil. We can’t control what happens day-to-day in Washington or on Wall Street, but we can keep our eye on the prize, identify the most important and profitable medium-term trends and act accordingly.

Portfolio Action Summary

• Adding MarkWest Energy Partners (NYSE: MWE) to our Conservative Portfolio; buy below $77

• Adding Williams Companies (NYSE: WMB) to our Growth Portfolio; buy below $39

Commodity Update

Oil prices finally stabilized after their recent slide, with West Texas Intermediate (WTI) nearly unchanged from two weeks ago at $103.46/bbl (down 8 cents). Brent crude gained $1.12 to $109.97/bbl, increasing the Brent-WTI differential to $6.51. The front-month contract for natural gas also reversed a recent slide, closing Tuesday at $3.72/MMBtu, up 21 cents over the past two weeks. Brokerages continue to downgrade refiners, which will soon report poor third-quarter results relative to a year ago, when the Brent-WTI differential was at $23/bbl. But if the differential continues to increase toward $10/bbl some of the refiners will likely become “Buys” again in our portfolios.

In Other News

• President Obama’s nominee to be the nation’s top energy regulator, Ron Binz, a former Colorado energy regulator and strong supporter of renewable energy, withdrew Tuesday, conceding he did not have enough support for confirmation.   

• Plans to build an Alaskan natural gas pipeline to rival the trans-Alaska oil pipeline took a step forward as Exxon Mobil (NYSE: XOM), BP (NYSE: BP), ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) and TransCanada (NYSE: TRP) announced that they have selected the site where gas would be liquefied and shipped to Asia.

• The government shutdown may soon affect the Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) weekly publications. At present the EIA has enough funding to continue publishing weekly data until Oct. 11 or so.

• Talisman Energy (NYSE, TSX: TLM) shares surged after Carl Icahn revealed a 6 percent stake in the company.

• The average US gasoline price fell nearly 14 cents per gallon in the last two weeks to $3.38/gal. This is $0.45/gal lower than the price 12 months ago.