OK, "Big Oil" may not be ruining your life, but that doesn't make the pain at the pump any less acute. And with the national average for regular gasoline above $4 a gallon, and a barrel of crude oil perched above $130, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that oil and gas companies stand to profit in this environment.

With that in mind, we'll use the aggregate intelligence of the 105,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS to find oil and gas stocks that the community likes -- those with four- and five-star ratings. The community's approval could be a sign that further research is in order.

Here are five such stocks:

Company

Primary Industry

% CAPS All-Star Bulls

CAPS Rating
(out of 5)

CAPS Research

Chesapeake Energy (NYSE:CHK)

Exploration

99.2%

*****

CHK

Noble (NYSE:NE)

Drilling

99.6%

*****

NE

Petrobras (NYSE:PBR)

Integrated Oil & Gas

98.9%

*****

PBR

Transocean (NYSE:RIG)

Drilling

98.5%

*****

RIG

Valero (NYSE:VLO)

Refining & Marketing

97.8%

*****

VLO

Source: Motley Fool CAPS, as of June 9, 2008.

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