Seeking Alpha: Triangle Petroleum's Presentation, Not Performance, Seems To Be The Issue

Sometimes how you manage the Street matters almost as much to the performance of your stock as how you manage the business. At first glance, Triangle Petroleum's (NYSEMKT:TPLM) fiscal second quarter results should have pleased investors, and the stock was up prior to the company's conference call. Unfortunately, management didn't really address some questions about production with the specificity that investors would prefer and a longer timeline to potentially breaking up the business also seemed to discourage some investors.

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Triangle Petroleum's Presentation, Not Performance, Seems To Be The Issue

Seeking Alpha: Oasis Petroleum Getting Less Than Its Full Due

As one of the large operators in the Bakken (in terms of leased acres), Oasis Petroleum (NYSE:OAS) certainly isn't immune to the various concerns investors have about the space, including price differentials and the threat that well returns will decline as less promising formations are targeted. Oasis also has to deal with some concerns that are more company-specific like the question of whether their acreage is of lower quality and whether the company will overpay for acquisitions.

Despite these concerns, Oasis has done okay since my last write-up - rising almost 16% while the EPX Index has risen about 11%. On the other hand, when compared to the performance of other Bakken operators like Continental Resources (NYSE:CLR), Whiting (NYSE:WLL), or Triangle Petroleum (NYSEMKT:TPLM) that comparison becomes much less favorable, as these producers have seen their shares rise more than 40% and more than 50% (WLL, TPLM) over that same time period. Although I think there are reasons for Oasis to trade at some discount to these other names, the results over the last half-year or so seem a little extreme and Oasis is starting to look more interesting again on a relative basis.

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Oasis Petroleum Getting Less Than Its Full Due

Seeking Alpha: Whiting's Buy Shows How The Bakken Is Changing

Whiting Petroleum's (NYSE:WLL) announcement that it had reached an agreement to acquire Kodiak Oil & Gas (NYSE:KOG) was surprising on several levels. First, Whiting isn't offering much of a premium to Kodiak's standalone net asset value. Second, a lot of investors have been assuming (or perhaps hoping) that consolidation in the Bakken would take the form of large energy companies coming in to buy large operators like Continental Resources (NYSE:CLR), Whiting, and Oasis (NYSE:OAS), not peer-to-peer consolidation. Third, this is a deal that is more about execution and efficiency than exploration growth, perhaps marking a recognition of real change.

All told, assuming the deal gets done on the announced terms, it's a good deal for Whiting and not a bad deal for Kodiak. Whereas Whiting has generally gotten good marks for its execution and operating performance (albeit with some concerns about capital efficiency), execution has been a recurrent issue and concern for Kodiak. In buying Kodiak, Whiting has an opportunity to address concerns about its drilling inventory, an opportunity to improve Kodiak's costs, and an opportunity to leverage its newly enlarged position to drive further efficiencies and optimization across a large acreage position.

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Whiting's Buy Shows How The Bakken Is Changing

Seeking Alpha: Triangle Petroleum Building To Bigger Things

"It takes money to make money" is an all-time great cliché, but it happens to be very true in the energy sector, where acreage and wells both cost money. Triangle Petroleum (TPLM) hasn't been shy about spending money, whether it is to drill wells in its core Williston Basin acreage, build up its RockPile services business, or acquire additional acreage. Although I do have some concerns about the pace at which Triangle is adding debt and the real quality of recently acquired acreage (not to mention the ever-present risks that go with operating a still largely prospective energy company), I believe the shares are still undervalued to a meaningful degree.

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Triangle Petroleum Building To Bigger Things

Seeking Alpha: Whiting Petroleum Working On The Second Act

Whiting Petroleum (WLL) has built itself over the years into one of the largest landholders in the Bakken, but instead of giving the company a victory lap, the Street is worried about whether that acreage is now too mature. Not only does Whiting's Williston acreage still have more than a little life left in it, this isn't a one-play story, and the company's potential in the Niobrara is definitely worthwhile. Investors have more than a few good investing options in the oil and gas sector today, but Whiting is worth a closer look.

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Whiting Petroleum Working On The Second Act

Seeking Alpha: Oasis Petroleum Offers A Familiar Story In The Bakken

ith concerns about oil prices, wider differentials, and rising costs pushing down many oil and gas developers in high-growth areas like the Bakken and Niobrara, Oasis Petroleum (OAS) isn't exactly a unique situation. Relative to companies like Whiting (WLL) or Continental (CLR) I suppose you could call Oasis a "fast follower", but whatever you call it, the company has more than half a million acres in the Bakken. Oasis's acreage is company-operated to a very significant degree and a significant amount of that property is in the attractive McKenzie County in North Dakota.

Valuation is always an inexact science, and even moreso in the case of oil and gas companies. If you assume that double-digit differentials are temporary and that WTI oil prices won't drop back below $80/barrel, Oasis looks attractive on a NAV basis. Likewise, an EV/EBITDA approach would support the notion that a price in the mid-to-high $50's is reasonable today.

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Oasis Petroleum Offers A Familiar Story In The Bakken

Seeking Alpha: Higher Costs And Differentials Create A Second Chance In Triangle Petroleum

Investment writers will talk about buying good companies/stocks on dips or pullbacks, but often it seems that the fear that surrounds each particular pullback leads many investors to forget about buying then … only to chase the stock on the way back up. I mention this in the context of Triangle Petroleum (TPLM) as I believe higher expenses in the recent fiscal third quarter are more on the order of "growing pains", and I continue to believe this fast-growing Bakken driller has undervalued assets and opportunity.

I'm not a huge fan of EV/EBITDA as an evaluation metric for oil and gas companies, and particularly in cases like Triangle where the next twelve months' results really don't reflect the development potential. In any case, both EV/EBITDA and NAV suggest that these shares are undervalued and worth consideration today from more aggressive risk-tolerant investors.

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Higher Costs And Differentials Create A Second Chance In Triangle Petroleum

Investopedia: Oasis Petroleum Still Worth A Look

It's pretty much a given that investing in individual exploration and production (E&P) companies is tantamount to buying a ticket for the roller-coaster. While the long-term thesis that oil and gas prices are destined to rise might be directionally correct, the incredible drop in crude oil prices from mid-2008 to the end of the year, and the spike from late 2011 to today, shows that plenty of volatility remains in the meantime.

Oasis Petroleum (NYSE:OAS) is by no means immune to the variability of oil prices, but this growth play in the Bakken could still be worth a look for more aggressive investors.

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http://stocks.investopedia.com/stock-analysis/2012/Oasis-Petroleum-Still-Worth-A-Look-OAS-CLR-WLL-UNP0402.aspx.