Top 5 Oil Companies To Own In Right Now

Back in 2008, the U.S. Geological Survey gave an official estimate of how much total recoverable oil may be in the Bakken formation of North Dakota and Montana. At about 3.5 billion barrels, many thought it was a bit low. Now, after five years, the USGS has done another assessment and determined that the region will be able to produce more than double that amount.�

For those who have followed oil companies in this region, this shouldn't come as too much of a surprise. The original assessement did not include some of the deeper formations, and people in the business believe that the 7 billion barrel estimate just released is still a bit conservative. In this video, Fool.com contributor Tyler Crowe takes a look at how investors should react to the news, and if it changes the investment thesis on Bakken-centric producers like Kodiak Oil & Gas (NYSE: KOG  ) .�

Hot Recreation Companies To Invest In Right Now: San Juan Basin Royalty Trust (SJT)

San Juan Basin Royalty Trust (the Trust) is an express trust created by the San Juan Basin Royalty Trust Indenture, between Southland Royalty Company (Southland Royalty) and The Fort Worth National Bank. The Trustee of the Trust is Compass Bank. The function of the Trustee is to collect the net proceeds attributable to the Royalty (Royalty Income), to pay all expenses and charges of the Trust and distribute the remaining available income to the Unit Holders. The Royalty conveyed to the Trust was carved out of Burlington Resources Oil & Gas Company LP�� (Burlington) working interests and royalty interests in certain properties situated in the San Juan Basin in northwestern New Mexico.

Burlington is the principal operator of the Underlying Properties. A percentage of the Royalty Income is attributable to the production and sale by Burlington of natural gas from the Underlying Properties. The Underlying Properties are primarily gas producing properties. The Underlying Properties consist of working interests, royalty interests, overriding royalty interests and other contractual rights in 151,900 gross (119,000 net) producing acres in San Juan, Rio Arriba and Sandoval Counties of northwestern New Mexico and 4,015 gross (1,158.5 net) wells. Gas produced in the San Juan Basin is sold in both interstate and intrastate commerce. Gas production from the properties totaled 32,580,756 million cubic feet (Mcf), during the year ended December 31, 2012. Gas produced from the Underlying Properties is processed at one of the five plants: Chaco, Val Verde, Milagro, Ignacio, and Kutz, all located in the San Juan Basin. Gas produced from the Underlying Properties and processed at Kutz is being sold under three separate contracts with Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E), Shell Energy North America (US), LP (Shell) and New Mexico Gas Company, Inc. (NMGC).

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Rich Duprey]

  San Juan Basin Royalty Trust (NYSE: SJT  ) announced yesterday its July monthly distribution of $0.080643�per unit, based principally upon production during the month of April.

• [By Aaron Levitt]

  San Juan Basin Royalty Trust (SJT): Rising natural gas prices have been a boon to SJT as the royalty trust owns natural gas wells located in New Mexico. Units of trust are up around 30% this year on the back of these higher prices. Also up are SJT�� distributions. The royalty trust paid out 4 cents per share per month last year. This May, SJT paid 10 cents- a nice 150% gain in dividends. SJT currently yields over 6% based on the last 12 months of monthly dividend payments.

Top 5 Oil Companies To Own In Right Now: National-Oilwell Inc.(NOV)

National Oilwell Varco, Inc. designs, constructs, manufactures, and sells systems, components, and products used in oil and gas drilling and production; provides oilfield services and supplies; and distributes products, and provides supply chain integration services to the upstream oil and gas industry worldwide. Its Rig Technology segment offers offshore and onshore drilling rigs; derricks; pipe lifting, racking, rotating, and assembly systems; rig instrumentation systems; coiled tubing equipment and pressure pumping units; well workover rigs; wireline winches; wireline trucks; cranes; and turret mooring systems and other products for floating production, storage and offloading vessels, and other offshore vessels and terminals. The company?s Petroleum Services & Supplies segment provides various consumable goods and services to drill, complete, remediate, and workover oil and gas wells and service pipelines, flowlines, and other oilfield tubular goods. It also manufacture s, rents, and sells products and equipment for drilling operations, including drill pipe, wired drill pipe, transfer pumps, solids control systems, drilling motors, drilling fluids, drill bits, reamers and other downhole tools, and mud pump consumables. In addition, this segment provides oilfield tubular services comprising the provision of inspection and internal coating services; equipment for drill pipe, line pipe, tubing, casing, and pipelines; and coiled tubing pipes and composite pipes. Its Distribution Services segment sells maintenance, repair and operating supplies, and spare parts to drill site and production locations. The company primarily serves drilling contractors, shipyards and other rig fabricators, well servicing companies, pressure pumping companies, oil and gas companies, supply stores, and pipe-running service providers. National Oilwell Varco, Inc. was founded in 1862 and is based in Houston, Texas.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Aimee Duffy]

  3. National Oilwell Varco (NYSE: NOV  )
  This company has really left its mark on the offshore world, quite literally, with equipment on 90% of the industry's rigs. It doubled its quarterly dividend earlier this year, to $0.26 per share and an annualized payout of $1.04 per share. After a rough 2012, earnings are up again in 2013 as the entire industry has begun to rebound. Like Seadrill, the company has a lucrative relationship with Petrobras that should bode well in the near future.

Top 5 Oil Companies To Own In Right Now: Tesoro Petroleum Corporation(TSO)

Tesoro Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in refining and marketing petroleum products in the United States. It operates in two segments, Refining and Retail. The Refining segment refines crude oil and other feed stocks into transportation fuels, such as gasoline, gasoline blendstocks, jet fuel, and diesel fuel, as well as other products, including heavy fuel oils, liquefied petroleum gas, petroleum coke, and asphalt. This segment also sells refined products in the wholesale market primarily through independent unbranded distributors; and in the bulk market primarily to independent unbranded distributors, other refining and marketing companies, utilities, railroads, airlines and marine, and industrial end-users. It owns and operates 7 refineries with a combined crude oil capacity of 665 thousand barrels per day. The Retail segment sells gasoline, diesel fuel, and convenience store items through company-operated retail stations, and third-party branded dea lers and distributors in the western United States. As of December 31, 2011, this segment had 1,175 branded retail stations under the Tesoro, Shell, and USA Gasoline brands. The company was formerly known as Tesoro Petroleum Corporation and changed its name to Tesoro Corporation in November 2004. Tesoro Corporation was founded in 1939 and is headquartered in San Antonio, Texas.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Claudia Assis]

  Top gainers Friday included refiners Marathon Petroleum Corp. (MPC) , up 4%, and Tesoro Corp. (TSO) , with shares up 3.8%.

• [By Johanna Bennett]

  Energy stocks fell Wednesday as crude oil prices tumbled, with refiners going the opposite direction�on strength from Marathon Petroleum (MPC) gaining 3.6%, and Tesoro (TSO) up 3.7%.

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  That might explain why refiners are holding up better than expected today. Valero (VLO) has gained 3% to $35, while Tesoro (TSO) has risen 1.6% to $41.19.

Top 5 Oil Companies To Own In Right Now: Devon Energy Corporation(DVN)

Devon Energy Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the acquisition, exploration, development, and production of natural gas and oil in the United States and Canada. It also involves in transporting oil, gas, and natural gas liquids (NGL); and processing natural gas. The company owns oil and gas properties in the mid-continent area of the central and southern United States; the Permian Basin in Texas and New Mexico; the Rocky Mountains area of the United States; and the onshore areas of the Gulf Coast, principally in south Texas and south Louisiana. It also owns oil and gas properties in the provinces of Alberta, British Columbia, and Saskatchewan, Canada. In addition, the company offers marketing and midstream services, including marketing of gas, crude oil, and NGL, as well as constructing and operating pipelines, storage and treating facilities, and natural gas processing plants. As of December 31, 2010, it had 2,042 million barrel of oil equivalent of proved developed reserves. The company sells its gas production to various customers, such as pipelines, utilities, gas marketing firms, industrial users, and local distribution companies; crude oil production to refiners, remarketers, and other companies; and NGL production to customers in petrochemical, refining, and heavy oil blending activities. Devon Energy Corporation was founded in 1971 and is headquartered in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jim Jubak]

  The deal that Devon Energy (DVN) announced on Wednesday, November 20, isn't a bad deal, but I think it's big value for investors is what it says about where the profits are or aren't in the US natural gas and oil from shale boom.

• [By Paul Ausick]

  Stocks on the Move: Crosstex Energy Inc. (NASDAQ: XTXI) is up 71.5% at $35.33 on a merger with Devon Energy Corp. (NYSE: DVN). Crosstex Energy LP (NASDAQ: XTEX) is up 33.9% at $27.25 on the same news. Voxeljet AG (NYSE: VJET) is up 22.7% at $35.34. J.C. Penney Co. Inc. (NYSE: JCP) is down 8.4% at $6.42, after posting another record low today.

• [By Eric Volkman]

  The field is located in the Campos basin, roughly 100 kilometers off the coast of Rio de Janeiro. Commercial production began in 2007, and BP purchased its stake in Polvo from Devon Energy (NYSE: DVN  ) in 2011. It shared ownership with Danish firm Maersk, which holds the remaining 40% stake.

• [By Arjun Sreekumar]

  For instance, Devon Energy (NYSE: DVN  ) reported "disappointing" results from a couple of wells it drilled last year that were thought to be in the play's oil-rich zone. The company has since decided to sell its acreage in the eastern Ohio portion of the Utica, having placed 244,000 of its gross acres up for bidding in January.