Pioneer Natural Resources Co

With nearly 100 percent gains YTD, natural gas has become one of the top-performing commodities in 2021. What are the best natural gas stocks to buy now?

The Permian Basin is one of the US’s primary drivers of oil production growth. Market Realist provides an overview of this prolific hydrocarbon asset with a primer piece: “Introduction to the Permian Basin”.

Last week, the Baker Hughes oil rig count increased from 1,423 to 1,425, reaching the highest level since 2014 began.

For 3Q16, Range Resources reported an adjusted loss per share of $0.06—$0.09 better than the Wall Street analyst consensus estimate of $0.15 loss per share.

For 3Q16, Occidental Petroleum expects its total production from ongoing operations to be in the range of 600–605 Mboe per day.

Diamondback Energy’s stock price saw uptrend from October 2012 to June 2014. When NYMEX WTI crude oil started falling in June 2014, FANG’s stock peaked.

On April 16, McDermott International announced that it will release its first-quarter earnings results on April 29.

The WTI Cushing-WTI Midland spread was at $4.12 per barrel on June 25—compared to $9.7 per barrel on June 18. The spread fell 58% on June 18–25.

WTI crude oil prices continued to slide as U.S. crude inventories continued to grow, with domestic production surging.

The inverted head and shoulder pattern is the reverse of the head and shoulder pattern. It’s formed at the bottom of the downtrend.

High market share gives OPEC bargaining power to price oil above a competitive market. It can sway crude oil prices by increasing or decreasing production.

The United States first imposed restrictions on its activities with Iran in 1979, after the seizure of the US embassy in Tehran.

So far in this series, we’ve looked at institutional investments in five major oil-weighted E&P (exploration and production) stocks: ConocoPhillips (COP), EOG Resources (EOG), Occidental Petroleum (OXY), Anadarko Petroleum (APC), and Pioneer Natural Resources (PXD).

As of March 1, 2018, a total of 34 analysts have made recommendations on EOG Resources (EOG) stock, according to Reuters.

Wall Street analysts expect Pioneer Natural Resources (PXD) to report year-over-year higher cash flow of ~$491 million in 3Q17 compared to ~$441 million in 3Q16.

In 2Q16, Marathon Oil (MRO) reported an operating netback of ~$13.45 per boe (barrel of oil equivalent), which is ~41% lower than in 2Q15.

As of December 31, 2015, the Marathon Oil’s (MRO) proved reserves totaled ~2163 MMboe, which is ~35 MMboe less than in December 31, 2014.

In March 2016, Range Resources stock made a higher high for the first time in almost two years. Since January 2016, Range Resources stock has risen a whopping 112%.

Since July 2011, the S&P 500 Index has gained about 62% and touched its high of 2130 in July 2015. During the same period, gold (GLD) has lost about 92%.

EQT has been reporting negative free cash flows since 2Q13. In 3Q15, EQT’s free cash flow was -$334 million.

Noble Energy reported negative but improving free cash flows in 2015.

Thus, Iran’s Western oil sanctions were lifted on Saturday, January 16, 2016. On Sunday, January 17, Iran stated that it would increase its crude oil production by 500,000 bpd (barrels per day) as soon as possible.

In 3Q15, excluding the one-time items, EOG reported a profit of $0.02 per share, $0.32 better than the analyst consensus for a loss of $0.30 per share. Its revenues fell ~58% year-over-year to ~$2.17 billion.

Currently, ~67% of Wall Street analysts rate EOG as a “buy” and ~31% of analysts rate it as a “hold.” Only ~2% rate the stock a “sell.”

The operating margin of the US-based (SPY) upstream companies rose by an average of 16%.

Upstream energy companies are the starting point of the petroleum value chain and are involved in exploration, appraisal, development, and production.

EOG’s reserves-to-production ratio, or reserve life, increased from 10.6x in 2012 to 11.5x in 2014. It would take EOG 11.5 years to deplete its proved reserves at its 2014 production rate.

Of the top American upstream stocks, EOG Resources has been the outperformer since June 2012, returning 93%. During the same period, Pioneer Natural Resources (PXD) returned 61%.

WTI traded flat last week, but firstly traded up $100 per barrel since December 27. This past week’s upward movement in prices was a short-term positive for the sector.