The rising tide of commodity prices is lifting all boats in the energy space. This spring, across the principal oil and gas sub-sectors, there was positive sentiment among analysts about the long-term fundamentals of the industry and about remaining stock-buying opportunities. "We continue to believe that robust oil and gas prices will be sustainable for the foreseeable future," says Wayne Andrews, E&P analyst in Houston for Raymond James & Associates. "Since the market continues to value E&P stocks using commodity prices well below our estimates and forward Nymex price curves, we still find the upstream group very attractive and therefore look for solid stock-price performance ahead." Andrews encourages investors to focus on E&P companies that are growing production at the highest rate per debt-adjusted share and that trade at an attractive valuation relative to growth, risk and return. Noting that no single metric can capture a producer's ability to create value, Andrews suggests investors also focus on independents exhibiting strong cost-management ability, which can help an operator generate better-than-average growth in earnings and free cash flow. The large-cap upstream stocks that stack up best overall under these metrics are Chesapeake Energy, Occidental Petroleum, Ultra Petroleum and XTO Energy, he adds. Among small/midcap stocks, his top picks are Bois d'Arc Energy, CNX Gas, Comstock Resources, Energy Partners, Range Resources and Western Gas Resources. For more on this, see the June issue of Oil and Gas Investor. For a subscription, call 713-260-6441.

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