Top 5 Oil Companies To Buy For 2014

SandRidge Energy (NYSE: SD  ) results for the company's Q1 have been released. For the quarter, revenue grew to $512 million, up from the $382 million in the same period the previous year. Attributable net loss, on the other hand, landed at $493 million ($1.03 per diluted share), more than double Q1 2012's red figure of $232 million ($0.58).

On an adjusted basis, those bottom-line numbers were in the black at $2.0 million ($0.00 per share) and $21.2 million ($0.04), respectively.

On average, analysts expected $477 million in revenue and a per-share loss of $0.05.

In operational terms, SandRidge operated an average of 38 rigs during the quarter and drilled 179 wells. Its production of oil rose by 30% on a year-over-year basis, while that for natural gas advanced 74%.

Top 5 Oil Companies To Buy For 2014: Gastar Exploration Ltd (GST)

Gastar Exploration Ltd (Gastar) is an independent energy company engaged in the exploration, development and production of natural gas and oil in the United States. The Company�� principal business activities include the identification, acquisition, and subsequent exploration and development of natural gas and oil properties with an emphasis on unconventional reserves, such as shale resource plays. As of December 31, 2011, it is pursuing the development of liquids-rich natural gas in the Marcellus Shale in the Appalachia area of West Virginia and, to a lesser extent, central and southwestern Pennsylvania. The Company also holds prospective acreage in the deep Bossier play in the Hilltop area of East Texas and conduct limited coal bed methane (CBM) development activities within the Powder River Basin of Wyoming and Montana. The Company is a holding company. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Roberto Pedone]

   Gastar Exploration (GST) is an independent energy company, engaged in the exploration, development and production of natural gas and oil in the U.S. This stock is trading up 2.8% to $1.26 in recent trading.

  Today’s Range: $1.24-$1.30

  52-Week Range: $0.70-$3.36

  Volume: 186,000

  Three-Month Average Volume: 516,159

  From a technical perspective, GST is bouncing modestly higher here right above some near-term support $1.15 with light volume. This stock has been uptrending strongly for the last month and change, with shares soaring from a low of 70 cents to its recent high of $1.38. During that move, shares of GST have been mostly making higher lows and higher highs, which is bullish technical price action. That move has now pushed GST within range of triggering a major breakout trade. That trade will hit if GST clears some near-term overhead resistance levels at $1.38 to $1.39 with high volume.

  Traders should now look for long-biased trades in GST as long as it’s trending above $1.15, and then once it sustains a move or close above those breakout levels with volume that hits near or above 516,159 million shares. If that breakout triggers soon, then GST will set up to re-test or possibly take out its next major overhead resistance level at its 200-day moving average of $1.77 or possible even $1.89 to $1.96.

Top 5 Oil Companies To Buy For 2014: Southern Union Company(SUG)

Southern Union Company, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the gathering, processing, transportation, storage, and distribution of natural gas in the United States. It operates in three segments: Transportation and Storage, Gathering and Processing, and Distribution. The Transportation and Storage segment engages in the interstate transportation and storage of natural gas in the Midwest and from the Gulf Coast to Florida. It also provides liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminalling and regasification services. The Gathering and Processing segment involves in gathering, treating, processing, and redelivering natural gas and natural gas liquids (NGLs) in Texas and New Mexico. It operates a network of approximately 5,500 miles of natural gas and NGL pipelines, 4 cryogenic processing plants with a combined capacity of 415 MMcf/d, and 5 natural gas treating plants with a combined capacity of 585 MMcf/d. The Distribution segment engages in the local distribution of natural gas in Missouri and Massachusetts. This segment serves residential, commercial, and industrial customers through local distribution systems. The company was founded in 1932 and is based in Houston, Texas.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Louis Navellier]

  Southern Union Co. (NYSE:SUG) also is involved with the gathering, processing, transportation, storage and distribution of natural gas in the U.S. Southern Union stock has jumped 74% year to date.

5 Best Consumer Service Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Apache Corporation(APA)

Apache Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the exploration, development, and production of natural gas, crude oil, and natural gas liquids. The company has exploration and production interests in the Gulf of Mexico, the Gulf Coast, east Texas, the Permian basin, the Anadarko basin, and the Western Sedimentary basin of Canada; and onshore Egypt, offshore Western Australia, offshore the United Kingdom in the North Sea, and onshore Argentina, as well as on the Chilean side of the island of Tierra del Fuego. Apache Corporation sells its natural gas to local distribution companies, utilities, end-users, integrated oil and gas companies, and marketers; and crude oil to integrated oil companies, marketing and transportation companies, and refiners. As of December 31, 2009, it had total estimated proved reserves of 1,067 million barrels of crude oil, condensate, and natural gas liquids, as well as 7.8 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. The company was founded in 1954 and is based in Houston, Texas.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Sherry Jim]

  Apache Corp (NYSE: APA): APA is the largest US energy stock in Cramer’s trust. As of Feb. 15, the fund owns 1050 shares of APA, which is worth about $113,000. APA is also quite popular among hedge funds. At the end of the third quarter, there were 30 hedge funds with APA positions. Jean-Marie Eveillard’s First Eagle Investment Management had $147 million invested, and Ric Dillon and Boykin Curry were also bullish about the stock, each with more than $100 million invested in APA at the end of September.

  We agree with these hedge fund managers. In late January, APA announced that it agreed to acquire Cordillera Energy Partners III LLC for $2.85 billion. Cordillera has nearly 254,000 net acres in the Anadarko Basin of Texas. It also has reserves of 71.5 million barrels of oil equivalent and its current net production is about 18,000 barrels per day. The acquisition will also provide APA with about 14,000 potential drilling locations. APA is already trading at attractive multiples. Its forward P/E ratio is 8.78 and its EPS is expected to grow at 11.22% on the average per year over the next five years. So its P/E ratio for 2014 is only 7.02.

Top 5 Oil Companies To Buy For 2014: Boardwalk Pipeline Partners LP (BWP)

Boardwalk Pipeline Partners, LP is a limited partnership company. The Company owns and operates three interstate natural gas pipeline systems including integrated storage facilities. Its business is conducted by its primary subsidiary, Boardwalk Pipelines, LP (Boardwalk Pipelines) and its subsidiaries, Gulf Crossing Pipeline Company LLC (Gulf Crossing), Gulf South Pipeline Company, LP (Gulf South) and Texas Gas Transmission, LLC (Texas Gas) (together, the operating subsidiaries), which consist of integrated natural gas pipeline and storage systems. During the year ended December 31, 2011, it formed Boardwalk Midstream, LP (Midstream), and its operating subsidiary, Boardwalk Field Services, LLC (Field Services), which is engaged in the natural gas gathering and processing business. In December 2011, Boardwalk HP Storage Company, LLC (HP Storage), a joint venture between Boardwalk Pipelines and Boardwalk Pipelines Holding Corp. (BPHC) acquired Petal Gas Storage, L.L.C. (Petal), Hattiesburg Gas Storage Company (Hattiesburg). In December 2011, it acquired a 20% equity interest in HP Storage.

The Company�� pipeline systems originate in the Gulf Coast region, Oklahoma and Arkansas and extend north and east to the midwestern states of Tennessee, Kentucky, Illinois, Indiana and Ohio. It serves a mix of customers, including producers, local distribution companies (LDCs), marketers, electric power generators, direct industrial users and interstate and intrastate pipelines. The Company provides a portion of its pipeline transportation and storage services, through firm contracts, under which the Company�� customers pay monthly capacity reservation charges. Other charges are based on actual utilization of the capacity under firm contracts and contracts for interruptible services. During 2011, approximately 82% of its revenues were derived from capacity reservation charges under firm contracts; approximately 14% of its revenues were derived from charges-based on actual utilization under firm contr! acts, and approximately 4% of its revenues were derived from interruptible transportation, interruptible storage, parking and lending (PAL) and other services. Its expansion projects include South Texas Eagle Ford Expansionand Marcellus Gathering System and HP Storage.

Pipeline and Storage Systems

The Company�� operating subsidiaries own and operate approximately 14,200 miles of pipelines, directly serving customers in twelve states and indirectly serving customers throughout the northeastern and southeastern United States through numerous interconnections with unaffiliated pipelines. In 2011, its pipeline systems transported approximately 2.7 trillion cubic feet of gas. Average daily throughput on its pipeline systems during 2011 was approximately 7.3 billion cubic feet. Its natural gas storage facilities are comprised of eleven underground storage fields located in four states with aggregate working gas capacity of approximately 167.0 billion cubic feet. the Company operates the assets of HP Storage on behalf of the joint venture.

The principal sources of supply for our pipeline systems are regional supply hubs and market centers located in the Gulf Coast region, including offshore Louisiana, the Perryville, Louisiana area, the Henry Hub in Louisiana and the Carthage, Texas area. Its pipelines in the Carthage, Texas area provide access to natural gas supplies from the Bossier Sands, Barnett Shale, Haynesville Shale and other gas producing regions in eastern Texas and northern Louisiana. The Henry Hub serves as the designated delivery point for natural gas futures contracts traded on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Its pipeline systems also have access to unconventional mid-continent supplies, such as the Woodford Shale in southeastern Oklahoma and the Fayetteville Shale in Arkansas. The Company also accesses the Eagle Ford Shale in southern Texas; wellhead supplies in northern and southern Louisiana and Mississippi; and Canadian natural gas through an unaffil! iated pip! eline interconnect at Whitesville, Kentucky.

Gulf Crossing

The Company�� Gulf Crossing pipeline system originates near Sherman, Texas, and proceeds to the Perryville, Louisiana area. The market areas are in the Midwest, Northeast, Southeast and Florida through interconnections with Gulf South, Texas Gas and unaffiliated pipelines.

Gulf South

The Company�� Gulf South pipeline system is located along the Gulf Coast in the states of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida. The on-system markets directly served by the Gulf South system are generally located in eastern Texas, Louisiana, southern Mississippi, southern Alabama, and the Florida Panhandle. These markets include LDCs and municipalities located across the system, including New Orleans, Louisiana; Jackson, Mississippi; Mobile, Alabama; and Pensacola, Florida, and other end-users located across the system, including the Baton Rouge to New Orleans industrial corridor and Lake Charles, Louisiana. Gulf South also has indirect access to off-system markets through numerous interconnections with unaffiliated interstate and intrastate pipelines and storage facilities. These pipeline interconnections provide access to markets throughout the northeastern and southeastern United States.

Gulf South has two natural gas storage facilities. The gas storage facility located in Bistineau, Louisiana, has approximately 78 billion cubic feet of working gas storage capacity from which Gulf South offers firm and interruptible storage service, including no-notice service. Gulf South�� Jackson, Mississippi, gas storage facility has approximately five billion cubic feet of working gas storage capacity, which is used for operational purposes and is not offered for sale to the market.

Texas Gas

The Company�� Texas Gas pipeline system originates in Louisiana, East Texas and Arkansas and runs north and east through Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi, Tennessee, K! entucky, ! Indiana, and into Ohio, with smaller diameter lines extending into Illinois. Texas Gas directly serves LDCs, municipalities and power generators in its market area, which encompasses eight states in the South and Midwest and includes the Memphis, Tennessee; Louisville, Kentucky; Cincinnati and Dayton, Ohio, and Evansville and Indianapolis, Indiana metropolitan areas. Texas Gas also has indirect market access to the Northeast through interconnections with unaffiliated pipelines. Texas Gas owns nine natural gas storage fields, of which it owns the majority of the working and base gas. Texas Gas uses this gas to meet the operational requirements of its transportation and storage customers and the requirements of its no-notice service customers.

Field Services

In 2011, the Company formed its Field Services subsidiary and transferred to it approximately 100 miles of gathering and transmission pipeline. In 2012, the Company transferred to Field Services an additional 240 miles of pipeline and two compressor stations. Field Services is developing gathering and processing capabilities in south Texas and Pennsylvania.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Michael Brush]

  As for Boardwalk Pipeline Partners (NYSE:BWP), it operates natural gas pipelines in the U.S. transporting about 10% of the nation's natural gas on an annual basis. Although it generates just 6% of Loews' overall net income, it does so on a consistent basis. Personally, I like the natural gas tie-in. Lastly, it owns 100% of privately operated HighMount Exploration and Production, a Texas-based company that produces natural gas, LNG and oil in Texas and Oklahoma. In 2012, as a result of lower natural gas prices, it's had to take large impairment charges on its natural gas revenue. I'd expect its situation to improve in 2013. Loews has increased its book value per share by approximately 9.5% on an annualized basis over the past five years. Owning its stock instead of the energy-related holdings directly allows you to benefit from its other holdings at the same time. 

Top 5 Oil Companies To Buy For 2014: Marathon Oil Corporation(MRO)

Marathon Oil Corporation, through its subsidiaries, operates as an international energy company with operations in the United States, Canada, Africa, the Middle East, and Europe. It operates through three segments: Exploration and Production, Oil Sands Mining, and Integrated Gas. The Exploration and Production segment explores for, produces, and markets liquid hydrocarbons and natural gas. The Oil Sands Mining segment mines, extracts, and transports bitumen from oil sands deposits in Alberta, Canada; and upgrades the bitumen to produce and market synthetic crude oil and vacuum gas oil. The Integrated Gas segment markets and transports products manufactured from natural gas, such as liquified natural gas and methanol. The company was formerly known as USX Corporation and changed its name to Marathon Oil Corporation in July 2001. Marathon Oil Corporation was founded in 1887 and is based in Houston, Texas.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Skousen]

  Marathon Oil (MRO) has been downgraded by TheStreet Ratings from buy to hold. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its robust revenue growth, reasonable valuation levels and good cash flow from operations. However, as a counter to these strengths, we find that the stock has had a generally disappointing performance in the past year.

  Marathon Oil Corporation, through its subsidiaries, operates as an international energy company with operations in the United States, Canada, Africa, the Middle East, and Europe. It operates through three segments: Exploration and Production, Oil Sands Mining, and Integrated Gas. The company has a P/E ratio of 8.1, above the average energy industry P/E ratio of 5.6 and below the S&P 500 P/E ratio of 17.7. Marathon Oil has a market cap of $18.9 billion and is part of the basic materials sector and energy industry. Shares are up 4.5% year to date as of the close of trading on Friday.