Barclays E&P Monthly: January 2012 - Top Picks and Stocks To Avoid

Barclays E&P Monthly: January 2012

Analyst, Thomas R. Driscoll, said, "...Natural gas prices continue to fall and gas now represents only ~20% of group revenues. We recommend investors avoid "pure" gas plays and focus on balanced or oil-oriented producers..."

"On the large-cap side EOG Resources (NYSE: EOG) and Noble (NYSE: NBL) remain our top long-term, high-quality picks. EOG may have the best oil-shale portfolio in North America while Noble combines a strong exploration track record with strong North American shale assets."

Barclays also recommended Anadarko Petroleum (NYSE: APC), Apache (NYSE: APA), but thinks Encana (NYSE: ECA), Range (NYSE: RRC), Southwestern (NYSE: SWN) and Ultra Petroleum (NYSE: UPL) are too expensive, ciiting currently modest gas-price views. Driscoll sees 30-40% downside if investor sentiment turns bearish on L-T gas price views.

For mid-cap E&P, Barclays names SM Energy (NYSE: SM) and Plains Exploration & Production (NYSE: PXP) as top picks.

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