Top Oil Stocks To Invest In Right Now

On the surface, General Electric's (NYSE: GE  ) �announcement�that it will buy Lufkin�Industries� (NASDAQ: LUFK  ) just appears to be a manufacturing giant picking up an oilfield services manufacturing specialist. If you dig deeper, though, you find that this could be a big signal of what is to come in North American oil and gas production. Lufkin's specialty is building�artificial�lift equipment for oil and gas wells, a service normally reserved for mature wells that need a little extra help bringing resources to the surface.�

With so much drilling happening in the U.S. over the past few years, there may be a big boom for this type of particular equipment in the next couple of years. With this purchase, not only is GE locking up a larger market share in this particular industry, but the high price it paid, it shows how valuable this market could be. in this video, Fool.com contributor Tyler Crowe discusses how the deal went down, and he also gives some possible investment ideas that follow this particular trend.

Top Oil Stocks To Invest In Right Now: National-Oilwell Inc.(NOV)

National Oilwell Varco, Inc. designs, constructs, manufactures, and sells systems, components, and products used in oil and gas drilling and production; provides oilfield services and supplies; and distributes products, and provides supply chain integration services to the upstream oil and gas industry worldwide. Its Rig Technology segment offers offshore and onshore drilling rigs; derricks; pipe lifting, racking, rotating, and assembly systems; rig instrumentation systems; coiled tubing equipment and pressure pumping units; well workover rigs; wireline winches; wireline trucks; cranes; and turret mooring systems and other products for floating production, storage and offloading vessels, and other offshore vessels and terminals. The company?s Petroleum Services & Supplies segment provides various consumable goods and services to drill, complete, remediate, and workover oil and gas wells and service pipelines, flowlines, and other oilfield tubular goods. It also manufacture s, rents, and sells products and equipment for drilling operations, including drill pipe, wired drill pipe, transfer pumps, solids control systems, drilling motors, drilling fluids, drill bits, reamers and other downhole tools, and mud pump consumables. In addition, this segment provides oilfield tubular services comprising the provision of inspection and internal coating services; equipment for drill pipe, line pipe, tubing, casing, and pipelines; and coiled tubing pipes and composite pipes. Its Distribution Services segment sells maintenance, repair and operating supplies, and spare parts to drill site and production locations. The company primarily serves drilling contractors, shipyards and other rig fabricators, well servicing companies, pressure pumping companies, oil and gas companies, supply stores, and pipe-running service providers. National Oilwell Varco, Inc. was founded in 1862 and is based in Houston, Texas.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Admin]

  Designer and maker of oil rig equipment, National-Oilwell Varco Inc. (NYSE: NOV), should benefit from the rising price of oil due to the crisis in the Middle East. With increased pressure to find new oil fields, the most stable investments in the energy sector appear to be in the oil well services and equipment stocks. NOV supplies equipment to deepwater drilling, shale operations and natural gas exploration.?

  S&P notes that, in the near future, there may be changes in regulatory measures pertaining to the Gulf of Mexico that could benefit NOV. S&P has a “four-star buy” on NOV with a target of $85.

  But technically, the stock is picking up volume, and if it can break through the triple-top at $89, it could have a major move up as it accelerated away from its bullish support line. Buy NOV now for a one-month trade to $89. Longer-term investors should hold this stock for long-term capital gains.

Top Oil Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Encana Corporation(ECA)

Encana Corporation and its subsidiaries engage in the exploration for, development, production, and marketing of natural gas, oil, and natural gas liquids. The company owns interests in resource plays that primarily include the Greater Sierra, Cutbank Ridge, Bighorn, and Coalbed Methane resource plays located in British Columbia and Alberta, as well as the Deep Panuke natural gas project offshore Nova Scotia in Canada. It also holds interests in resource plays comprising the Jonah in southwest Wyoming, Piceance in northwest Colorado, Haynesville in Louisiana, and Texas resource play, including east Texas and north Texas. The company serves primarily local distribution companies, industrials, energy marketing companies, and other producers. Encana Corporation was founded in 1971 and is headquartered in Calgary, Canada.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Nelson]

  Encana is not the oil and gas company it once was – it spun off its oil division early in 2009 as Cenovus (another good name to pick up if you want to add to any of the above four), while leaving Encana itself as a pure natural gas play.  But if you want to invest in nat gas, Encana is your Cadillac.  It’s probably the best choice out there for a large cap, extremely well-managed name that you won’t lose sleep over.  You only have to be concerned with the underlying commodity price.

• [By Conrad]

  EnCana (ECA) is one of North America’s largest independent natural gas producers, boasting nearly 13 trillion cubic feet of reserves. Canada is ECA’s main stomping ground, since the company is headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, but EnCana also has exploration efforts in Brazil, the Middle East, Greenland and even France.

  In late 2009, EnCana spun off its tar-sands oil business into a separate company, Cenovus (CVE). This was a very wise move, because it allowed the company to focus on its natural gas business and really leverage its massive reserves. Though natural gas prices are down from their historic levels, futures have doubled in the past five months. This is a very bullish sign for gas producers like EnCana.

• [By Richard Young]

  You can see on my relative strength chart what is likely a bottom in EnCana (NYSE:ECA) shares. With EnCana’s competitor Chesapeake Energy (NYSE:CHK) announcing natural gas production cuts, it’s only a matter of time before other production companies do the same. The slowdown in drilling activity should put a bottom on the price of gas. The effect has translated into a bottom on EnCana Corp shares. Buy EnCana Corp. today and lock in a yield near 4%.

Top 10 Warren Buffett Companies For 2014: Worthington Energy Inc (WGAS)

Worthington Energy, Inc. (Worthington), formerly Paxton Energy, Inc., incorporated July 30, 2004, is an oil and gas exploration and production company with assets in Texas and in the Gulf of Mexico. Worthington�� assets in Texas consist of a minority working interest in limited production and drilling prospects in the Cooke Ranch area of La Salle County, Texas, and Jefferson County, Texas, all operated by Bayshore Exploration L.L.C. (Bayshore). The Company�� assets in the Gulf of Mexico consist of a leasehold working interests in certain oil and gas leases located offshore from Louisiana, upon which no drilling or production has commenced as of December 31, 2011, and a 10.35% interest in the recently drilled I-1 well and a 2% royalty interest in 14,400 acres in the Mustang Island Tract 818. On March 27, 2012, it acquired certain assets from Black Cat Exploration & Production, LLC.

In Texas, the Company has working interests ranging from 4% to 31.75% (net revenue interests ranging from 3% to 23.8125%) in the various wells. In the Gulf of Mexico it has a 70% leasehold working interest, with a net revenue interest of 51.975%, of certain oil and gas leases in the Vermillion 179 tract and 10.35% interest in the recently drilled I-1 well and a 2% royalty interest in 14,400 acres in the Mustang Island Tract 818. As of December 31, 2011, it had one producing well that generated average total monthly net revenue.

The Mustang Island 818-L Field, located in the Kleberg County waters of the Gulf of Mexico, is a field re-habilitation project targeting bypassed or only partially produced gas-condensate. Total production from the wells within the seismic coverage was 125.6 billion cubic feet. In January 2011, the Hercules Offshore 205 jack-up rig was contracted to re-enter the I-Well on the Mustang License Area. The oil and gas leases are located in the VM 179, which is in the shallow waters of the Gulf of Mexico offshore from Louisiana. VM 179 is at 85 inches water depth approximately ! 46 miles offshore Louisiana in the Gulf of Mexico.

Top Oil Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Sunoco Inc.(SUN)

Sunoco, Inc., through its subsidiaries, refines and markets petroleum products in the United States. Its Logistics segment operates refined product and crude oil pipelines and terminals; and acquires and markets crude oil and refined products. As of December 31, 2011, this segment owned and operated approximately 5,400 miles of crude oil pipelines and approximately 2,500 miles of refined product pipelines. It also operates 42 active terminals that receive refined products from pipelines and distribute them to third parties. The company?s Retail Marketing segment engages in the retail sale of gasoline and middle distillates; and operation of convenience stores. This segment operates outlets primarily in Connecticut, Florida, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. Its Refining and Supply segment offers petroleum products, including gasoline and residual fuel oil, as well as middle distillates, such as jet fuel, heating oil , and diesel fuel; and commodity petrochemicals comprising propylene-propane, benzene, and cumene. This segment offers its products to wholesale and industrial customers. The company was founded in 1886 and is based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Top Oil Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Valero Energy Corporation(VLO)

Valero Energy Corporation operates as an independent petroleum refining and marketing company. The company operates through three segments: Refining, Ethanol, and Retail. The Refining segment engages in refining, wholesale marketing, product supply and distribution, and transportation operations. It produces conventional gasoline, distillates, jet fuel, asphalt, petrochemicals, lubricants, and other refined products. This segment also offers conventional blendstock for oxygenate blending, reformulated gasoline blendstock for oxygenate blending, gasoline meeting the specifications of the California Air Resources Board (CARB), CARB diesel fuel, low-sulfur and ultra-low-sulfur diesel fuel. The Ethanol segment produces ethanol and distillers grains. The Retail segment sells transportation fuels at retail stores and unattended self-service cardlocks; convenience store merchandise and services in retail stores; and home heating oil to residential customers. Valero Energy Corpora tion markets its refined products through bulk and rack marketing network; and sells refined products through a network of approximately 6,800 retail and wholesale branded outlets under the Valero, Diamond Shamrock, Shamrock, Ultramar, Beacon, and Texaco names in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Aruba, and Ireland. As of December 31, 2011, it owned 16 petroleum refineries with a combined throughput capacity of approximately 3.0 million barrels per day; and operated 10 ethanol plants with a combined nameplate production capacity of approximately 1.1 billion gallons per year. The company was formerly known as Valero Refining and Marketing Company and changed its name to Valero Energy Corporation in August 1997. Valero Energy Corporation was founded in 1955 and is based in San Antonio, Texas.

Top Oil Stocks To Invest In Right Now: ConocoPhillips(COP)

ConocoPhillips operates as an integrated energy company worldwide. The company?s Exploration and Production (E&P) segment explores for, produces, transports, and markets crude oil, bitumen, natural gas, liquefied natural gas, and natural gas liquids. Its Midstream segment gathers, processes, and markets natural gas; and fractionates and markets natural gas liquids in the United States and Trinidad. The company?s Refining and Marketing (R&M) segment purchases, refines, markets, and transports crude oil and petroleum products, such as gasolines, distillates, and aviation fuels. Its Chemicals segment manufactures and markets petrochemicals and plastics. This segment offers olefins and polyolefins, including ethylene, propylene, and other olefin products; aromatics products, such as benzene, styrene, paraxylene, and cyclohexane, as well as polystyrene and styrene-butadiene copolymers; and various specialty chemical products comprising organosulfur chemicals, solvents, catalyst s, drilling chemicals, mining chemicals, and engineering plastics and compounds. The company?s Emerging Businesses segment develops new technologies and businesses. It focuses on power generation; and technologies related to conventional and nonconventional hydrocarbon recovery, refining, alternative energy, biofuels, and the environment. This segment also offers E-Gas, a gasification technology producing high-value synthetic gas. ConocoPhillips was founded in 1917 and is based in Houston, Texas.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Hawkinvest]

  ConocoPhillips (COP) is a leading oil and gas company involved in exploration, production, refining, and transportation of petroleum products. ConocoPhillips appears undervalued, as it offers a solid dividend yield and a price to earnings ratio of just about 9 times earnings. This stock could have an upside catalyst in the coming months, as the company plans to spin-off the refining division, which will become a separate, publicly traded company called Phillips 66. This company has extensive oil reserves which can grow as the company makes new finds, and these reserves also grow more valuable as the price of oil trends higher. This stock has been rising, so waiting for pullbacks makes sense. Recently, it's been possible to buy Conoco shares at below $70 per share, and that would be a very attractive entry point.

  Here are some key points for COP:

  Current share price: $73.83

  The 52 week range is $58.65 to $81.80

  Earnings estimates for 2011: $8.27 per share

  Earnings estimates for 2012: $8.75 per share

  Annual dividend: $2.64 per share which yields 3.6%

• [By Dave Friedman]

  Institutional investors bought 49,282,090 shares and sold 75,744,640 shares, for a net of -26,462,550 shares. This net represents 1.79% of common shares outstanding. The number of shares outstanding is 1,479,330,000. The shares recently traded at $65.51 and the company’s market capitalization is $89,946,840,000.00. About the company: ConocoPhillips is an international, integrated energy company which operates in several business segments. The Company explores for and produces petroleum, and refines, markets, supplies, and transports petroleum. ConocoPhillips also gathers and processes natural gas, and produces and distributes chemicals and plastics.

• [By Fabian]

  ConocoPhilips(COP) is a close second. This is a Warren Buffett darling that will benefit from its spinoff of refining assets some time in 2012.

  Conoco also continues to pay a consistent and reliable 3.75%. Note that COP has underperformed the rest of the sector recently. Correlations are normally so close that such an underperformance by one stock can point the way to value.