Seeking Alpha: Synergy Resources Offering A Lot Of Exploration Upside

This has been a winter of discontent for many energy companies operating in the Bakken and Wattenberg regions, as well as for their shareholders, as operational challenges like floods and high gathering line pressures coupled with wider differentials have hit the stocks. Against that backdrop, small Synergy Resources (SYRG) has been showing some pretty impressive well costs and production rates on its core Wattenberg acreage. With an aggressive drilling program for 2014, a drilling inventory of over 10 years in the Wattenberg, and assets in other areas, Synergy is worth a closer look today.

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Synergy Resources Offering A Lot Of Exploration Upside

Seeking Alpha: Unit Corp Doesn't Seem To Get Full Benefit Of The Doubt

Investors typically like "clean" investment stories where there are not a lot of moving parts or unusual combinations of businesses - this is why there used to be something called a "conglomerate discount", though that has largely gone away over the years. I mention this as the opener for the piece because I believe it's an important part of the investment story around Unit Corp (UNT) - a smallish energy company with operations in exploration and production, land-based drilling, and midstream.

Although Unit Corp has done reasonably well over the years, particularly with respect to growing its reserves and shifting its resource base away from gas and toward liquids, the stock doesn't really reflect the multiples you'd expect from its mix of operations. There are certainly some operational risks tied to the company's E&P activities and the U.S. land drilling market is unlikely to show a real recovery until 2015, but I do believe Unit shareholders have reason to expect at least a little more upside in these shares.

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Unit Corp Doesn't Seem To Get Full Benefit Of The Doubt

Investopedia: Apache Makes Nother Move To Reduce Business Risk

Investors are getting even more of what they say they want from Apache (NYSE:APA), as this large independent oil and gas producer has reached an agreement to sell down its stake in Egypt. Due in no small part to the significant increase in political/operating risk in Egypt, many shareholders and analysts had been vocal in calling for Apache to reduce its exposure to the country. Although it sounds like Apache got a reasonable deal, I am skeptical that it's really going to change opinions on this company as it goes through a restructuring of its operations.

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Investopedia: Noble Energy Looks Great, But Is The Valuation Too Filling?

In what has been an extremely iffy year for the E&P sector, Noble Energy (NYSE:NBL) is an outlier in many respects. Not only has the stock done quite well over the past year, but that's even with a gas-heavy reserve base and exposure to the Gulf of Mexico – two things that the market has really soured on in general.

Clearly this is a situation where digging a little deeper is warranted. Noble Energy is doing so well in part because of its very successful drilling program in northern Colorado, it's large gas discoveries off the coast of Israel, and a very compelling outlook for debt-adjusted production growth over the next three to five years. Honestly, the question today doesn't seem to be so much about whether Noble is a top-notch emerging mid-tier energy company, but rather what to pay for all of that.

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Investopedia: Can Apache Regain Its Reputation?

It feels like it wasn't all that long ago when Apache (NYSE:APA) was one of the most well-regarded energy companies in the game. Management had a knack for acquiring assets from larger companies at attractive prices and driving a surprising amount of productivity out of them. Along the way, the company developed a very broad portfolio that was well-balanced between oil/gas, individual basins, and near-term/long-term productivity.

Unfortunately, there's a blurry line “diversified” and “unfocused”, and Wall Street has come to the conclusion that Apache is too much of the latter these days. What's more, there are now substantial questions about the company's asset mix and its ability to generate good returns from those assets. Management is responding to these concerns with an asset sale program, and while Egypt is going to loom large in investors' minds for a while yet, I believe these shares are meaningfully undervalued today.

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Investopedia: A New Era For Chesapeake Energy

Chesapeake Energy (NYSE:CHK) had a well-earned reputation as the riverboat gambler of the natural gas world. If there was a hint of meaningful natural gas in an area, you could usually count on Chesapeake to be among the those bringing out the biggest checkbook to gobble up acreage. The end result of that policy was a large reserve base, but also a stretched-out balance sheet and weak profitability as natural gas prices plunged.

Now the company starts a new period. A new CEO brings at least the hope of better capital allocation, while an aggressive divestiture program should help fill the funding gap. While I think Chesapeake's economic returns are going to be impacted for some time to come by the aggressiveness of past days, I do believe the shares may offer decent value today if you believe in the future of natural gas usage in the U.S.

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Investopedia: Halliburton Has Gotten Interesting Again

Slipping oil prices have definitely taken the steam out of what had been a strong seasonal move in many oil service and equipment stocks. Even so, many in the oil and gas industry seem to think that rig counts have bottomed and that exploration and production activity will start picking up again in 2013 barring a major economic downturn. While the timing and magnitude of that recovery does present some risk to Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) investors, today's valuation looks like a pretty attractive entry point to play an eventual recovery in the services and equipment sector.

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Investopedia: Hercules Offshore Seeing Better Days In The Gulf

The energy exploration and production business in the Gulf of Mexico has finally gotten back to something closer to normal, and that's good news for Hercules Offshore (Nasdaq:HERO). While the company's relatively low-spec rigs do limit the company's earnings potential (and the multiple investors should pay), it's also true that a rising tide lifts all boats and that the company is seeing improving day rates and contract lengths. Investors should be cautious about the run-up in energy services stocks, but Hercules could yet be a name worth following.

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Investopedia: Barring Disaster, Anadarko Looks Too Cheap

If it were only a question of the quality of its oil and gas operations, Anadarko Petroleum (NYSE:APC) would be an easy stock to like at today's price. In the case of this company, that's a whopper of an "if," as litigation over Tronox (NYSE:TROX) nears its end and brings a large range of potential outcomes. Although Anadarko looks too cheap based on its energy operations, any investors looking to exploit that discount must be prepared for the potential that an adverse ruling could seriously dent the stock.

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Investopedia: Has Ultra Petroleum Seen The Worst?

Maybe the worst question an investor can ask about a stock or sector is "how much worse can it get?," as the answer is often something along the lines of "a lot." That seems like a relevant point when considering Ultra Petroleum (NYSE:UPL) - a natural gas-focused exploration and production (E&P) company that has long been a top-notch operator, but has suffered from rock-bottom gas prices. It's probably true that higher natural gas prices are inevitable as export-oriented liquefaction facilities come online and more energy consumption is shifted to gas, but that's a multi-year process that still leaves ample room for volatility in these shares.

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Investopedia: Can Whiting Deliver More Green?

While momentum investors may not want to deal with supposedly "broken" growth stories, I think investors more interested in value and financial performance can still find a lot to like in Bakken name like Whiting Petroleum (NYSE:WLL). The frenzy over these companies is largely over, but as is often the case the market has over-corrected and these shares look interesting even considering some of the bearish scenarios

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Investopedia: Apache Buy Today For Tomorrow's Rewards

So far, 2012 has looked like a year of risk aversion in the energy space. By and large, the bigger you look, the better your returns have been - the stocks of companies like Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) and Chevron (NYSE:CVX) have done pretty well, while companies like Anadarko (NYSE:APC) and Apache (NYSE:APA) have languished by comparison. Although I see that Apache's recent production growth guidance cuts aren't going to make it the hottest property in the space, I still believe that investors ought to consider owning this name for its combination of long-term potential and near-term value.

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Seeking Alpha: Is Chevron Following The Exxon Game Plan?

Investors have ample choice in the oil and gas sector these days, with plenty of high-quality names like Apache (APA) and Petrobras (PBR) trading at discounts for one reason or another. Add Chevron (CVX) to that list, for while it's not the cheapest energy stock out (nor the cheapest major), the company's valuation seems to give it only marginal credit for following a game plan that looks more than passingly similar to the one successfully put into place at Exxon Mobil (XOM).

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Is Chevron Following The Exxon Game Plan?

Investopedia: Talisman Energy Has More Charm Than The Market Thinks

Institutional investors seem to approach energy stocks with the same sort of discipline and dedication that teenaged girls show towards boy bands and pop stars. Whatever was popular last year isn't going to be hot this year, but there's not always a lot of logic in the process. Talisman Energy (NYSE:TLM) does have real challenges that merit a discount, but it seems as though the Street has gone a little overboard here and patient investors may want to consider the name.

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Investopedia: Eni Still Not Getting Much Love

Admittedly these aren't the best of times for energy companies, but it's even worse for those whose assets lean towards natural gas and/or politically dicey areas. Eni (NYSE:E) has never been among the most-loved major energy companies, but valuation is now starting to look quite interesting. With progress on divestitures and big discoveries off the coast of Mozambique, there's still work to do, but management has taken some solid positive steps.

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Investopedia: Occidental Petroleum Has Taken A Different Path

There are a lot of odd things about Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) in the context of the broader energy sector. While investors have generally cheered the decisions of companies like ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) to separate from their refining and/or chemical businesses, Oxy seems in no particular hurry to match. Likewise, Oxy has a pretty good record of cash flow production and returns on internal investment, and while management has received rather generous compensation, they actually seem to run the business like a business.

Not that any of that has helped all that much lately. Oxy has fallen along with many other energy companies, and there are the usual worries here about the company getting stuck between rising production costs and declining realizations. All of that said, today's valuation suggests investors ought to take another look at this company as a longer-term quality energy play.

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Seeking Alpha:Given The Operational Risks, ConocoPhillips Is No Bargain

Some companies just seem to have a knack for making the wrong moves, and I fear that ConocoPhillips (COP) is one of those. While many of the company's decisions make sense on a passing glance (buying energy companies a while back, spinning off the refining business, etc.), they just seem to go sour in the hands of ConocoPhillips. Given the neither fish-nor-fowl nature of the post-split E&P business, I think there are better buys to be had in the oil patch today.

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Given The Operational Risks, ConocoPhillips Is No Bargain

Investopedia: Denbury Resources Turns Leftovers Into Haute Cuisine

The world of energy exploration and production (E&P) is a large one, with ample room for many different business models. Taking a page from Apache's (NYSE:APA) successful book, Denbury Resources (NYSE:DNR) focuses on acquiring oil fields that other operates consider played out and then actively works them to squeeze out even more oil. While this is a challenging approach, it can work well when properly executed, and investors may want to add this name to their list of energy companies to follow.

Tertiary Recovery
To be clear, Denbury and Apache do not follow identical operating plans. Although Apache has and does take on mature fields, it is more broadly focused on efficient execution in environments that other operators find challenging and less economical.

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Investopedia: Eni Hoping To Be An African Queen

Much like its home country, Italian energy Eni (NYSE:E) needs to rethink its approach and restructure its operations. While the company has a valuable growth-oriented exploration and production business (centered on Africa), overall performance has been held back by a collection of structurally uncompetitive downstream operations. While valuation is close to attractive, Eni is a stock that will need some time to work out.

A Tough 2011 Breaks a Strong Streak  
Eni had built a reputation as a fairly reliable under-promise/over-deliver company that routinely delivered results slightly above expectations. Although that technically continued in the fourth quarter as adjusted income was 3% above expectations, it was a low-quality beat and underlying results actually missed most sell-side estimates by about 5%.

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Investopedia: Apache Still Cheap Enough To Pay

Despite a long-term record that should place it among the best-run energy companies, Apache (NYSE:APA) is more often criticized for whatever it isn't than what it is has always been. Apache is never the company to play when oil is hot, nor is it the company to play when natural gas is the place to be. Apache is never the name to consider when a particular play or geology is in the news.

What Apache is, though, is a company with an enviable record of cash generation and per-barrel margins and a company with a record of producing excellent economic returns in place where others fear to tread. Apache's balance and diversification means it will never be the hottest name in the sector, but the value here is such that investors who want a dependable play on oil and gas should take a serious look.

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