Best Energy Stocks To Buy For 2014

The gushing oil well at Spindletop Dome in Beaumont, Texas, is one of the most iconic images in the history of oil. When the well hit paydirt, oil spewed 150 feet into the air at a staggering rate of 100,000 barrels per day.�

We've come a long way since that Spindletop gusher 112 years ago, and today's industry faces greater challenges finding new sources that can be sold at a reasonable rate of return.

On a recent conference call, Core Laboratories (NYSE: CLB  ) CEO David Demshur stated that outside some of the best spots in the U.S., oil producers in the U.S. will slow down exploration if oil prices are to remain below $90 for a sustained amount of time. Let's look at a few factors that might give some�credence�to Demshur's claim.

1. Higher resource costs. According to Cheaspeake Energy (NYSE: CHK  ) , the average shale well in the U.S. is drilled to 7,800 feet vertically plus several thousand feet horizontally and is injected with more than 5 million gallons of water, sand, and chemicals to fracture the tight pores where the oil is hidden. All of this effort is for an average initial production rate of about 450 barrels per day.�

Best Energy Stocks 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.

Best Energy Stocks To Buy For 2014: Precision Drilling Corp (PDS)

Precision Drilling Corporation (Precision) is a provider of contract drilling and completion and production services primarily to oil and natural gas exploration and production companies in Canada and the United States. The Company operates in two segments: Contract Drilling Services, and Completion and Production Services. In Canada, the Contract Drilling Services segment includes land drilling services, directional drilling services, procurement and distribution of oilfield supplies and the manufacture and refurbishment of drilling and service rig equipment, and the Completion and Production Services segment includes service rigs for well completion and workover services, snubbing services, camp and catering services, wastewater treatment services and the rental of oilfield surface equipment, tubulars, well control equipment and wellsite accommodations. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Louis Navellier]

  Dahlman Rose, an investment bank specializing in natural resources, upgraded the oil services industry in November 2012; one of the prime recipients of this upgrade was Precision Drilling, Canada's largest oilfield services company. Dahlman Rose expects North American exploration and production to increase by 11% in 2013 to $334 billion, led by a big increase from natural gas. The investment banker believes land drillers like Precision are selling at a historically low multiple of 1.1 times tangible book value compared to the historical norm of two times tangible book value. Heading into 2013, Precision's stock's dropped a significant amount and sits at one of its lowest levels in the past two years. Despite reduced demand for its services in 2012, CEO Kevin Neveu pointed out in October that, "PDS is seeing increased long-term contracts for upgraded and new rigs." Rising natural gas prices should increase the industry's rig utilization rate to around 85%, naturally increasing Precision's revenues and profits. This could be an easy double in 2013. 

Top Retail Stocks For 2014: Range Resources Corporation(RRC)

Range Resources Corporation, an independent natural gas company, engages in the acquisition, exploration, and development of natural gas properties primarily in the Appalachian and southwestern regions of the United States. The company?s Appalachian region drilling and producing activities include tight-gas, shale, coal bed methane, and conventional natural gas and oil production in Pennsylvania, Virginia, Ohio, and West Virginia. It owns 4,969 net producing wells, approximately 2,750 miles of gas gathering lines, and approximately 1.8 million gross acres under lease. The company?s Southwestern drilling and producing activities cover the Barnett Shale of North Texas, the Permian Basin of West Texas and eastern New Mexico, the East Texas Basin, the Texas Panhandle, and the Anadarko Basin of Western Oklahoma. It owns 1,954 net producing wells, as well as approximately 886,000 gross acres under lease. As of December 31, 2010, Range Resources Corporation had had 4.4 Tcfe of pr oved reserves. It sells gas to utilities, marketing companies, and industrial users. The company was formerly known as Lomak Petroleum, Inc. and changed its name to Range Resources Corporation in 1998. Range Resources Corporation was founded in 1975 and is headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Louis Navellier]

  Range Resources Corp. (NYSE:RRC) is an independent natural gas and oil company that explores, develops and acquires primarily natural gas and oil properties in the U.S. This is another stock that is up big, gaining 46% year to date.

Best Energy Stocks To Buy For 2014: El Paso Corporation(EP)

El Paso Corporation operates in the natural gas transmission, and exploration and production sectors of the energy industry primarily in the United States. It offers natural gas transmission services to a range of customers, including natural gas producers, marketers, and end-users, as well as other natural gas transmission, distribution, and electric generation companies through its interests in approximately 43,100 miles of interstate pipeline system. The company also operates approximately 240 billion cubic feet of storage capacity, and an LNG receiving terminal in Elba Island, Georgia. In addition, El Paso Corporation focuses on the exploration, acquisition, development, and production of natural gas, oil, and natural gas liquids in the United States, Brazil, and Egypt, as well as engages in midstream business. The company primarily sells its domestic natural gas and oil to third parties. As of December 31, 2010, it had proved natural gas and oil reserves of approximat ely 3.4 trillion cubic feet of natural gas equivalents. The company was founded in 1928 and is based in Houston, Texas.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Louis Navellier]

  El Paso Corp. (NYSE:EP) is an energy company that operates in the natural gas transmission and exploration and production sectors of the energy industry. Clearly the turbulent market hasn’t affected El Paso stock — it’s up 40% year to date.